1 


,  Dept.    Mai? 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


BIRDS 

IN    THEIR 

RELATIONS.  TO   MAN 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of 


THE   BLUE   YELLOW-BACKED    WARBLER. 


BIRDS 


IN  THEIR 


RELATIONS    TO    MAN 


A  Manual  of  Economic  Ornithology  for  the 
United  States  and  Canada 

BY 

CLARENCE  M.  WEED,  D.Sc. 

PROFESSOR     OF     ZOOLOGY    AND     ENTOMOLOGY,    NEW    HAMPSHIRE     COLLEGE     OF    AGRICULTURE 
AND    THE    MECHANIC    ARTS 

AND 

NED  DEARBORN,  D.Sc. 

ASSISTANT    CURATOR,     DEPARTMENT    OF    BIRDS,     FIELD    COLUMBIAN    MUSEUM,    CHICAGO 


ILLUSTRATED 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of 


PHILADELPHIA   AND  LONDON 

J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 
1903 


Main  Lib. 
Agrlc.  Dept. 


COPYRIGHT,  1903 

BY 
CLARENCE  M.   WEED  AND  NED  DEARBORN 

Published  June,  igoj 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  by 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Company,  Philadelphia,  U.  S-  A. 


TO 

STEPHEN  ALFRED  FORBES 

DIRECTOR    OF    THE    ILLINOIS    STATE 
LARORATORY  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY 

WHOSE    CLASSIC    STUDIES    OF   THE    ECONOMIC 

RELATIONS     OF     BIRDS     WILL    LONG 

REMAIN    THE    MODEL    FOR 

LATER    STUDENTS 


IS    GRATEFULLY    INSCRIBED 


205638 


CONTENTS 

¥ 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION. — THE  RELATIONS  OF  BIRDS  TO  MAN  ....  1 

I. — THE  METHODS  OF  STUDYING  THE  FOOD  OF  BIRDS 9 

II. — THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ECONOMIC  ORNITHOLOGY  .    .    .    .    .    .  17 

III. — THE  VEGETABLE  FOOD  OF  BIRDS      27 

IV. — THE  ANIMAL  FOOD  OF  BIRDS ....  42 

V. — THE  AMOUNT  OF  FOOD  CONSUMED  BY  BIRDS 59 

VI. — BIRDS  AS  REGULATORS  OF  OUTBREAKS  OF  INJURIOUS  ANIMALS  68 
VII. — THE    RELATIONS    OF    BIRDS    TO    PREDACEOUS    AND    PARASITIC 

INSECTS 81 

VIII. — THE  THRUSHES  AND  THEIR  ALLIES 86 

IX. — THE  NUTHATCHES,  TITMICE,  CREEPERS,  AND  WRENS     ...  105 

X. — THE  WARBLERS  AND  THE  VIREOS 112 

XI. — THE  SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND  TANAGERS     .    .    .  122 

XII. — THE  FINCHES  AND  SPARROWS pfe,    .....    .  132 

XIII.— THE  ENGLISH  SPARROW     .........'.....  144 

XIV. — THE  ORIOLES,  BLACKBIRDS,  CROWS,  AND  JAYS      .....:  156 

XV. — THE  FLYCATCHERS,  HUMMING-BIRDS,  SWIFTS,  AND  NIGHTHAWKS  174 

XVI. — THE  WOODPECKERS,  KINGFISHERS,  AND  CUCKOOS      181 

XVII.— THE  OWLS .    .    ......    ...    .    .  195 

XVIII.  — THE  HAWKS,  EAGLES,  KITES,  AND  VULTURES 205 

XIX.— THE  PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND  SHORE-BIRDS    ........  219 

XX.— THE  WATER-BIRDS    .  239 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI. — THE  CONSERVATION  OF  BIRDS. — I.  THE  NON-GAME-BIRDS      .  255 

XXII. — THE  CONSERVATION  OF  BIRDS. — II.  THE  GAME-BIRDS    .    .    .  271 

XXIII. — PREVENTING  THE  DEPREDATIONS  OF  BIRDS  .....     ...  293 

XXIV. — ENCOURAGING  THE  PRESENCE  OF  BIRDS 304 

APPENDIX 

I. — THE  BIRD  LAW  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ORNITHOLOGISTS'  .UNJON  317 

II.— THE  LACEY  BIRD  LAW    .    . 320 

III. — SOME  FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  OF  BIRD  LAWS  .    .        ...  323 
IV. — A  PARTIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  RELATIONS  OF 

NORTH  AMERICAN  BIRDS 326 

INDEX  375 


BIRDS 

IN  THEIR 

RELATIONS    TO    MAN 

¥¥¥ 

Introduction. 

THE    RELATIONS   OF    BIRDS   TO    MAN. 

THE  town  of  Durham,  New  Hampshire,  in  which  this  book 
has  been  written,  may  serve  to  illustrate  in  miniature  the 
relations  that  exist  between  the  world  of  birds  and  the  world 
of  man.  This  town  abounds  with  homesteads  distributed  over 
its  more  habitable  portions,  with  considerable  areas  of  wood- 
land and  rocky  pastures,  while  on  the  east  it  adjoins  that 
arm  of  the  sea  called  Great  Bay.  Running  into  this  bay  is 
the  Oyster  River :  below  the  dam  which  holds  back  the  fresh 
water  this  is  a  tide-stream,  overflowing  salt  marshes  through 
part  of  its  course.  As  a  result  of  this  unusual  situation, 
Durham  has  an  extraordinarily  rich  fauna  and  flora,  making 
the  region  one  to  delight  the  heart  of  the  naturalist. 

During  the  summer  season  birds  are  abundant  in  this  town. 
In  the  yards  about  the  houses  the  chipping-sparrows  are 
cherished  dwellers,  building  their  horse-hair  nests  under  the 
very  windows,  and  supervising  the  lawns  and  roadways  for 
grasshoppers,  caterpillars,  and  many  other  insects  found 
among  the  grasses  and  low  herbage.  The  robins  are  also 
abundant,  running  over  the  lawns  in  search  of  earthworms, 
cutworms,  and  grasshoppers,  often  building  their  nests  in  the 
trees  in  the  yard,  though  more  commonly  repairing  to  the 

1 


2  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

near-by  orchard  for  that  purpose.  The  bluebirds  feed  more 
freely  upon  low-living  insects  than  even  the  robins  do,  eating 
great  numbers  of  cutworms  and  similar  pests  about  the 
borders  of  the  garden,  as  well  as  searching  for  insects  in  the 

fruit  and  shade  trees.  Far- 
ther afield  this  area  next  the 
ground  is  supervised  by 
various  other  birds  :  in  the 
pastures  and  grass-lands 
sparrows,  meadow  -  larks, 
bobolinks,  blackbirds,  and 
quails  are  always  searching 
for  caterpillars  and  other 
insects ;  along  the  borders 
of  the  forests  chewinks  and 
brown  thrashers  scratch 
beneath  the  shrubbery  for 
such  insect  fare  as  is  there 
available ;  in  the  deeper 
woods  the  ruffed  grouse 
is  similarly  engaged,  while 

FEMALE  RED-WINGED  BLACKBIRD.  J 

along  the  margins  of  ponds 

and  streams  the  sand-pipers,  plovers,  woodcock,  and  snipe 
are  always  probing  for  hidden  tidbits. 

Fortunately,  trees  are  abundant  in  Durham :  near  the 
houses  and  along  the  streets  shade  and  ornamental  trees 
abound  ;  in  the  orchards  apple-trees  prevail ;  along  the  water- 
courses alders  and  other  shrubby  trees  hold  sway,  while  in 
the  forests  oak  and  maple  and  beech  and  stately  pines  are 
everywhere.  All  of  these  trees  have  their  insect  enemies  :  in 
the  trunk  are  borers  of  the  bark,  the  sap-wood  and  the  heart- 
wood  ;  on  the  branches  are  gnawing  and  sucking  insects ;  on 
the  leaves  are  caterpillars  and  plant-lice  and  leaf-hoppers  and 
hosts  of  others.  Set  over  against  these  destroyers  are  many 
feathered  enemies :  the  woodpeckers,  assisted  by  the  nut- 


THE    RELATIONS   OF    BIRDS   TO    MAN.  3 

hatches  and  creepers,  look  after  the  insects  on  and  beneath 
the  bark  of  both  the  trunk  and  branches  ;  the  chickadees  and 
warblers  and  vireos  and  kinglets  are  always  scrutinizing  the 
leaves  for  their  inhabitants,  and  are  assisted  in  the  case  of 
the  caterpillars  and  larger  insects  by  the  bluebirds,  thrushes, 
cherry-birds,  and  many  others. 

The  air  is  no  less  thoroughly  supervised  by  our  feathered 
allies  than  are  the  grasses  and  the  trees.  Most  insects  at  one 
stage  of  their  existence  are  aerial :  by  day  the  butterflies,  the 
beetles,  some  of  the  moths,  the  grasshoppers,  the  hosts  of 
two-winged  flies,  and  many  others  are  upon  the  wing ;  while 
by  night  an  even  greater  host  of  moths,  fire-flies  and  other 
beetles,  bugs,  and  many  other  insects  are  abroad.  To  keep 
in  check  these  hordes  of  flying  things  there  are  certain  well- 
marked  groups  of  birds  : 
by  day  the  swallows  of 
many  species  and  the  chim- 
ney-swifts are  constantly 
patrolling  the  larger  spaces 
of  the  air,  over  both  land 
and  water,  capturing  mil- 
lions of  these  aerial  insects ; 
the  kingbird,  pe\vee,  and 
other  fly-catchers,  as  well 
as  to  a  more  limited  de- 
gree the  cedar-bird  and 
bluebird,  capture  the  in- 
sects that  pass  within  their 
range  of  vision  as  they 
perch  upon  fence  or  stump 
or  tree ;  the  warblers  and  THE  KINGBIRD. 

vireos  catch   those   insects 

flying  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  green-leaved  trees, 
while  the  redstarts  have  well  been  named  the  fly-catchers 
of  the  inner  tree-tops ;  by  night  the  nighthawks  and  whip- 


4  BIRDS   IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

poorwills  are  rushing  everywhere  through  the  air  catching  in 
their  capacious  maws  insects  of  all  sorts  and  sizes.  With  all 
these  birds  to  devour  them,  it  is  evident  that  the  insects  of 

the  air  are  Avell  provided 
against,  if  we  will  only  en- 
courage our  aerial  friends 
as  they  deserve. 

But  insects  are  riot  the 
only  pests  troublesome 
upon  our  farms.  In  and 
about  the  barns  and  out- 
buildings mice  and  rats  do 
much  damage  to  grains, 
eggs,  and  poultry ;  in  the 
grass-fields  moles  and 
meadow-mice  are  some- 
times injurious;  in  the  or- 
chards rabbits  often  girdle 
young  trees  by  gnawing 
the  bark.  Against  these 

THE  YELLOW  WARBLER. 

also  the  birds  help  us  :  the 

hawks  arid  owls  feed  largely  upon  all  these  rodents,  and  per- 
form a  great  though  little  appreciated  service  in  keeping  them 
in  check. 

After  many  years  of  study,  in  New  Hampshire  as  well  as 
many  other  States,  of  these  relations  of  birds  to  agriculture, 
we  are  convinced  that  the  birds  are  a  most  potent  factor  in 
making  crop  production  possible,  that  without  them  we  should 
be  overrun  with  pests — vertebrate  and  invertebrate — to  an 
extent  of  which  we  now  have  no  conception.  And  so  we  are 
disposed  to  be  lenient  towards  the  few  shortcomings  of  the 
birds  which  loom  so  large  to  many  who  see  only  one  side  of 
the  picture.  Fruit  is  pilfered  by  some  of  the  birds,  though 
in  our  region  so  few  cherries  and  small  fruits  are  raised  and 
there  is  relatively  so  much  wild  fruit  that  the  loss  is  of  small 


THE    RELATIONS   OF    BIRDS   TO    MAN.  5 

account.  In  orchards  near  the  woods  a  few  trees  are  often 
disbudded  in  winter  by  ruffed  grouse,  and  some  other  trees 
are  treated  in  a  similar  way  occasionally  when  the  pine 
grosbeaks  visit  us.  In  corn-fields  some  corn  is  pulled  up 
by  crows,  though  our  farmers  prevent  this  largely  by  various 
means,  and  from  us  at  least  find  no  objection  when  they  are 
able  to  shoot  these  wily  thieves.  And  the  same  is  true  in 
the  case  of  the  yellow-bellied  sap-sucker  when  it  is  girdling 
a  tree,  if  only  the  owner  will  not  extend  his  hatred  to  the 
woodpeckers  that  resemble  it, — the  downy  and  the  hairy,— 
which  are  so  eminently  useful.  In  England  some  birds  are 


HEAD  OF  HAWK. 


put  on  the  black-list  because  they  feed  upon  fish,  but  with 
us  this  is  never  thought  of.  We  are  sure  the  kingfisher  is 
not  begrudged  his  scaly  diet  by  any  one  who  is  able  to  appre- 
ciate the  fitness  of  the  bird  to  our  river  scenery.  And  we 
can  well  spare  the  few  fish  our  ospreys  catch  in  the  Avaters 
of  the  bay,  when  we  are  rewarded  by  the  sight  of  the  stately 
birds  soaring  through  the  air.  About  the  only  bird  offence 
we  are  unable  to  condone  is  the  robbing  of  our  poultry-yards 
by  the  hawks  and  owls ;  and  here,  unfortunately,  the  inoffen- 
sive species  generally  have  to  pay  the  penalty  for  the  crimes 
of  their  more  ferocious  kindred. 


6  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

As  to  the  relations  between  the  birds  themselves — especially 
the  few  that  prey  upon  their  kindred — in  general  we  are  con- 
tent to  let  Nature  work  out  her  balance  of  life  in  her  own 


HEAD  OF  SHRIKE. 


way.  The  chief  exception  to  this  under  our  present  condi- 
tions would  be  in  the  notable  case  where  short-sighted  man 
has  interfered  with  Nature's  balance  by  introducing  the  Eng- 
lish sparrow,  which,  we  regret  to  say,  is  becoming  well  estab- 
lished in  our  town.  And  we  have  the  same  feeling  with 
regard  to  those  parasitic  and  predaceous  insects  which  birds 
undoubtedly  devour :  we  are  quite  sure  that  by  so  doing  they 
are  helping  to  keep  the  balance  of  insect  life  where  it  will  be 
most  effective  for  man's  benefit. 

The  birds  are  also  to  be  credited  with  the  destruction  of 
an  enormous  amount  of  weed-seed,  a  service  which  is  little 
appreciated  by  the  general  public.  The  estimate  by  Profes- 
sor F.  E.  L.  Beal,  that  the  tree-sparrows  alone  will  eat  eight 
hundred  and  seventy-five  tons  of  weed-seed  in  Iowa  in  one 
season,  should  help  to  a  more  general  appreciation  of  this 
phase  of  bird  activity. 

There  are  various  other  benefits  derived  from  birds  which 
are  not  illustrated  in  our  local  conditions.  One  such  is  the 


THE    RELATIONS    OF    BIRDS    TO    MAN.  7 

supplying  us  with  down  by  the  eider-ducks ;  another,  the 
scavenger  value  of  buzzards  and  vultures  in  our  Southern 
States,  as  well  as  of  gulls  in  the  harbors  of  our  cities ;  and 
yet  another,  the  indication  of  shoals  of  fish  by  the  presence 
of  gulls,  as  along  our  Atlantic  coast. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  direct  economic  value  of  this 
bird  life  to  our  towns-people  should  be  considered  its  value  as 
an  object  of  study  and  interesting  recreation.  Many  people 
find  in  the  birds  a  subject  of  constant  interest  in  which  they 
are  kept  out-of-doors  in  the  health-giving  atmosphere  of  our 
coastal  region,  finding  always  something  to  occupy  and  tran- 
quillize the  mind.  With  the  modern  devices  for  such  study, 
— the  splendid  field-glasses,  the  improved  long-distance  cam- 
eras, the  tents  for  close-range  observations, — together  with 
the  constantly  increasing  number  who  are  being  attracted  to 
it  through  the  schools  and  the  fascinating  bird-books  of  later 
years,  the  class  of  people  who  thus  find  in  the  observation 
of  bird-life  a  delightful  pastime  is  certain  to  increase  rapidly. 

And  there  are  many  people  with  no  special  liking  for 
natural  history  studies  who  yet  appreciate  the  value  of  birds 
in  ministering  to  man's  love  of  beauty.  To  these  the  sight 
of  a  brilliant  humming-bird  poised  before  a  flower,  of  a 
yellow  warbler  among  the  apple-blossoms,  or  of  a  splendid 
heron  beside  the  rippling  waters  is  a  memory  to  be  cherished 
certainly  as  much  as  the  sight  of  a  great  masterpiece  of  paint- 
ing or  sculpture  created  by  human  genius. 

There  is  also  another  relation  the  birds  of  Durham  bear 
to  its  human  inhabitants.  In  the  woods  everywhere  ruffed 
grouse  are  plentiful ;  in  the  low  swales  woodcock,  and  in  the 
wet  meadows  Wilson's  snipe  are  not  uncommon  ;  along  the 
bay  shores  and  by  the  marshes  plover  of  various  sorts  are 
often  found ;  on  the  waters  of  the  bay  wjld  ducks  and  wild 
geese  are  abundant  during  the  fall  migration.  All  of  these 
birds  afford  those  inhabitants  who  enjoy  legitimate  sport  an 
opportunity  for  invigorating  days  of  hunting,  as  well  as  a  cer- 


8  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

tain  amount  of  excellent  food.  This  game  might  also  easily 
become  a  source  of  revenue  to  many  other  people  in  the 
town  by  attracting  city  visitors  for  the  shooting  season. 

In  the  following  pages  we  have  attempted  to  discuss  in  a 
broad  yet  specific  way  the  relations  of  birds  to  man  as  illus- 
trated in  temperate  North  America.  The  book  has  been 
made  possible  only  through  the  labors  of  such  investigators 
as  Forbes,  Merriam,  Beal,  Barrows,  Fisher,  Palmer,  Judd, 
Warren,  Herrick,  Montgomery,  and  many  others,  upon  whose 
published  results  we  have  freely  drawn.  The  need  of  the 
book  was  first  shown  when  the  senior  author  undertook  to 
teach  a  college  class  the  subject  of  economic  ornithology,  and 
its  first  draft  consisted  of  the  lectures  prepared  for  that  class. 
When  later  the  junior  author — a  life-long  student  of  birds — 
became  associated  with  him,  a  joint  study  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject was  undertaken,  the  results  of  which  are  here  presented. 

A  considerable  proportion  of  the  illustrations  in  this  book 
are  from  original  photographs — chiefly  of  mounted  specimens 
—by  the  authors.  The  others  have  been  gleaned  from  vari- 
ous sources,  which  are  credited  beneath  the  pictures. 


HEAD  OF  CHIPPING-SPARROW. 


Photographed  from  life  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Shufddt. 

THE   KINGBIRD. 


UNIVERSITY 

Of 


CHAPTER    I. 
THE   METHODS   OF   STUDYING   THE   FOOD    OF    BIRDS. 

THE  accurate  determination  of  the  feeding  habits  of  birds 
must  form  the  foundation  of  any  adequate  knowledge  of  their 
economic  status.  To  determine  these  habits  two  principal 
methods  are  available :  (1)  the  birds  may  be  watched  in  their 
natural  haunts  and  the  food  they  take  be  observed  as  care- 
fully as  possible ;  (2)  the  birds  may  be  killed  and  the  food 
found  in  their  alimentary  canals  examined  to  determine  its 
nature.  A  third  method,  that  of  observing  the  food  prefer- 
ences of  birds  in  captivity,  is  chiefly  valuable  in  helping  to 
determine  the  amount  of  food  eaten  by  birds,  although  con- 
siderable information  may  thus  be  obtained  also  regarding 
their  choice  of  food. 

The  first  of  these  methods  may  be  readily  employed  in 
determining  the  varieties  of  vegetable  food  that  adult  birds 
eat,  and  in  exceptional  cases  is  of  value  in  determining  the 
animal  food  of  such  birds.  It  is  of  greatest  value,  however, 
when  applied  to  the  nestlings,  especially  in  the  modification 
of  the  method  first  successfully  employed  by  Professor  F.  H. 
Herrick,  and  described  in  detail  later  in  this  chapter. 

To  the  majority  who  would  learn  at  first  hand  what  birds 
eat,  field-work  is  the  only  sort  that  appeals.  Only  those  with 
the  genuine  scientific  spirit  are  willing  to  soil  their  fingers 
with  dissection  or  to  spend  hours  in  identifying  the  contents 
of  a  single  stomach,  even  though  possessed  of  sufficient  expe- 
rience to  carry  on  such  an  investigation.  Even  in  field-work 
an  extensive  knowledge  of  animals  and  plants  is  necessary  if 
one  would  name  half  the  objects  he  sees  in  birds'  bills.  But 
while  it  is  highly  desirable  to  ascertain  exactly  what  birds  eat, 
it  by  no  means  follows  that  a  person  should  wait  until  he  has 

9 


10  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

mastered  botany,  entomology,  and  kindred  subjects,  that  will 
enter  into  his  researches,  before  attempting  to  learn  at  least 
the  general  character  of  the  food  eaten  by  our  various  birds. 
To  know  whether  a  bird  prefers  insects  or  seeds  is  worth 
while,  though  the  name  of  the  insect  or  seed  consumed  may 
be  beyond  guessing  at.  The  main  thing,  after  all,  in  field- 
work,  is  to  keep  an  attentive  eye  on  the  birds,  to  learn  how 
to  observe  without  frightening  them,  and  to  know  when  and 
where  the  different  species  feed. 

The  study  of  food  habits  is  not  usually  begun  until  after 
the  student  has  gained  a  fair  understanding  of  other  habits 
that  are  more  attractive  to  watch  and  oftener  dwelt  upon  by 
ornithological  writers.  It  is  a  sort  of  post-graduate  course, 
so  to  speak, — another  field  into  which  the  enthusiast,  after 
covering  the  old  run  of  species,  distribution,  migration,  nests, 
eggs,  etc.,  may  enter  if  his  enthusiasm  holds  out.  There- 
fore it  is  taken  for  granted  that  whoever  is  inclined  to  inves- 
tigate the  food  of  birds  is  equal  to  his  undertaking  from  the 
bird  side,  if  no  more.  What  he  may  not  know  about  the 
items  of  food  in  the  beginning,  he  will  become  so  anxious  to 
find  out  that  his  stock  of  information  will  rapidly  increase. 
If  one  is  interested  in  birds,  the  food  problem  will  afford  a 
good  "handle11  for  picking  up  an  interest  in  other  branches 
of  natural  history. 

For  examining  adult  birds  in  the  field,  good  vision  and  a 
note-book  and  pencil  are  the  chief  requisites,  though  an 
opera-  or  field-glass  may  often  be  used  to  advantage.  War- 
blers, vireos,  and  other  active  birds  that  live  by  foraging  may 
be  quietly  followed  as  they  flit  from  tree  to  tree.  In  this  way 
it  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the  character  of  their  food  and 
about  how  much  is  consumed  during  a  given  interval  of 
time.  Now  and  then  there  will  be  favorable  moments  when 
it  is  possible  to  see  for  a  certainty  just  what  is  taken. 
Cuckoos,  kingfishers,  flycatchers,  and  other  birds  that  are 
more  or  less  sedentary  must  be  watched,  an  hour  or.  two 


METHODS   OF   STUDYING   THE   FOOD    OF   BIRDS.          11 

perhaps,  from  one  position, — an  occupation  not  nearly  so 
irksome  as  it  looks  on  paper. 

Wherever  an  abundance  of  some  particular  kind  of  food 
occurs,  it  is  a  good  plan  to  sit  down  where  you  can  see  with- 
out being  seen  and  wait  for  visitors.  In  this  case  your  notes 
will  take  on  a  different  look.  Instead  of  having  a  bird's  name 
at  the  head  and  a  list  of  food  items  beneath,  you  will  have  a 
food  name  at  the  top  and  the  names  of  birds  that  partake  in 
the  columns  below.  Thus,  you  may  sit  on  the  shore  and  see 
what  birds  live  on  fish  and  what  on  mollusks.  You  may 
stroll  across  the  fields  at  haying  time  and  discover  the  birds 
that  feed  on  the  myriads  of  leaf-hoppers,  grasshoppers,  and 
"  millers"  that  take  to  wing  at  every  step.  So  may  you  learn 
what  birds  are  addicted  to  any  seed  or  fruit  that  you  may 
bring  under  observation.  It  is  well  to  note  in  passing  that 
birds  are  excellent  judges  of  quality  in  fruits,  for  which  reason 
it  is  well  to  see  u  which  way  the  birds  fly"  before  selecting  a 
site  for  operations. 

In  the  laboratory  birds  may  be  kept  alive  and  tested  as  to 
their  preferences  for  different  kinds  of  food,  though  such  ex- 
periments are  not  likely  to  be  very  satisfactory,  for  the  reason 
that  birds  in  captivity  quickly  learn  to  relish  things  they  would 
never  taste  in  the  wild  state. 

A  knowledge  of  the  amount  of  food  eaten  by  caged  birds 
is  of  value,  however,  as  whatever  difference  there  may  be 
between  the  quantity  consumed  in  the  wild  and  in  the  captive 
state  is  on  the  safe  side.  A  prisoner  cannot  dispose  of  so 
much  as  the  activity  of  a  free  bird  demands. 

The  determination  of  bird  food  by  dissection  requires  an 
extensive  outfit,  if  it  is  thoroughly  done.  There  must  be  at 
hand  good  collections  of  botanical  specimens,  including  seeds  ; 
of  insects,  mollusks,  fish,  frogs,  reptiles,  birds,  and  small  mam- 
mals,— everything,  in  short,  likely  to  be  eaten  by  a  bird, — in 
order  to  name  correctly  the  visceral  contents.  Even  the 
bones  of  the  smaller  vertebrates  will  be  necessary  for  identi- 


12  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

fying  the  food  of  hawks  and  owls.  A  simple  magnifier  will 
be  needed  constantly  and  at  times  there  will  be  use  for  a  com- 
pound microscope. 

Instead  of  examining  each  bird  at  the  time  of  its  capture, 
it  is  usually  more  convenient  to  remove  the  digestive  tract, 
and,  after  attaching  a  numbered  tag  by  means  of  thread,  to 
put  it  into  a  jar  of  five  per  cent,  formalin  or  eighty  per  cent, 
alcohol,  where  it  may  safely  remain  until  enough  have  ac- 
cumulated for  a  day's  work.  Viscera  may  be  kept  indefi- 
nitely if  the  preservative  fluid  is  changed  as  often  as  it  be- 
comes discolored.  The  number  on  the  tag  corresponds  to 
one  in  the  note-book,  where  are  recorded  the  name  of  the 
bird,  the  date  and  place  of  capture,  and  any  other  data  that 
may  have  a  bearing  on  diet. 

When  ready  for  the  analysis,  a  stomach  may  be  cut  open 
with  a  pair  of  scissors  or  a  scalpel,  and  the  contents  emptied, 
with  a  little  water,  on  a.  piece  of  plain  glass, — say,  three  by 
three  inches,  for  any  bird  smaller  than  a  flicker.  If  a  dis- 
secting microscope  be  available,  the  magnifier  may  be  managed 
more  easily,  and,  furthermore,  transmitted  light  or  reflected 
light  with  a  black  or  white  background  may  be  used  at  will. 
With  a  pair  of  sharp  needles  set  in  handles  the  mass  may  be 
spread  over  the  glass  and  assorted.  Wings  of  insects  may  be 
unrolled  and  floated  on  the  film  of  water  so  as  to  be  identified 
as  to  family  and  often  as  to  genus.  By  assembling  the  parts 
of  insects  or  other  food  of  the  same  kind  into  little  piles,  the 
relative  amount  of  each  may  be  estimated. 

Hawks,  owls,  crows,  flycatchers,  and  certain  other  birds  that 
devour  indigestible  matter,  such  as  bones,  the  elytra  of  bee- 
tles, etc.,  regurgitate  such  matter  in  the  form  of  compact 
pellets,  generally  at  the  roosting  places.1  Insectivorous  and 


1  See  The  Common  Crow,  Bull.  No.  6,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr. ,  Div.  Orn. 
and  Mam. ;  also  Montgomery  on  the  Food  of  Owls,  Am.  Nat.,  July,  1899, 
vol.  xxxiii.  pp.  563-572. 


~5^»A«^ 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of 


BOBOLINK  APPROACHING  NEST  IN  PAIL. 


NEARER  HOME. 


METHODS   OF   STUDYING   THE   FOOD    OF   BIRDS.  13 

fruit-eating  birds  do  not  digest  their  food  so  thoroughly  but 
that  its  nature  is  apparent  from  the  excreta.  Wherever  birds 
roost  in  numbers,  pellets  or  excreta  or  both  may  be  gathered, 
and  when  analyzed  will  give  results  scarcely  less  valuable 
than  those  obtained  by  dissection,  with  the  advantage  that 
there  is  no  sacrifice  of  bird  life. 

A  study  of  the  food  of  nestlings  is  less  difficult  arid  on  the 
whole  more  satisfactory.     Both  the  kind  and  the   quantity 


READY  TO  FEED. 


may  be  accurately  determined  without  injuring  so  much  as 
a  feather. 

If  the  nest  is  on  or  near  the  ground,  a  small  neutral-colored 
tent  may  be  set  up  beside  it  as  near  as  you  please,  into  which 
you  may  retire,  and,  by  watching  the  progress  of  affairs 
through  a  small  "  peep-hole,"  fill  your  note-book  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  rations  that  are  consumed.  If  on  the  ground  the 
nest  and  young  may  be  transferred  to  a  sunken  pail  for  better 
observation,  as  shown  in  the  bobolink  photographs  herewith. 
It  usually  happens,  however,  that  the  nest  is  not  in  a  position 


14 


BIRDS    IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


where  a  tent  can  be  placed  beside  it.  In  that  case  locate  the 
tent  in  a  good  place  as  near  by  as  may  be,  and  then  cut  of! 
the  branch,  fasten  it  strongly  to  a  support  by  cords  or  screws, 
and  by  degrees  move  it  to  a  place  beside  the  tent. 

When  it  is  not  necessary  to  remove  the  nest,  the  tent  may 
be  pitched  as  early  as  the  day  of  hatching,  in  most  cases  at 
least,  without  fear  of  causing  the  old  birds  to  desert.  But  when 
the  nest  has  to  be  moved,  unless  the  degrees  of  progress  are 
made  very  short,  there  is  danger  of  desertion  if  the  moving  is 
undertaken  before  the  young  are  well  covered  with  starting 
pinfeathers.  Then  they  are  able  to  move  about  and  usually 


OUTFIT  FOR  PHOTOGRAPHING  BIRDS  IN  NEST. 

to  make  sounds  that  attract  the  parent  birds.  At  that  time 
also  parental  devotion  is  at  its  full  strength,  and  the  old  birds 
are  willing  to  face  dangers  that  they  would  not  otherwise 
encounter.1 

Where  a  nest  is  to  be  moved  and  there  is  not  much  danger 
of  being  bothered  by  prowling  boys,  we  usually  employ  a 
fairly  good-sized  tent,  as  it  gives  the  observer  a  chance  to 
change  his  position  without  giving  external  evidence  of  it. 


1  This  method  of  controlling  the  nest  and  using  a  tent  for  concealment 
was  first  described  in  "The  Home  Life  of  Wild  Birds,1'  by  Professor  F. 
H.  Herrick,  which  see. 


METHODS    OF    STUDYING   THE    FOOD    OF    BIRDS.  15 

It  is  set  up  early,  so  the  birds  may  get  accustomed  to  seeing 
it,  and  not  taken  down  till  the  observation  is  completed. 
Sometimes  several  nests  are  brought  one  after  another  to  the 
same  site.  In  the  illustration  opposite  there  is  a  chipping- 
sparrow's  nest  in  position  and  a  robin's  in  waiting  only  ten 
feet  away.  Except  for  the  trouble  and  a  very  slight  delay 
in  the  work  of  the  birds,  there  is  no  objection  to  striking  the 
tent  every  evening  and  pitching  it  again  in  the  morning. 

At  such  short  range  there  is  generally  no  doubt  as  to  the 
identity  of  every  object  that  is  brought  to  the  nest.  Some 
birds  bring  food  in  their  gullets  and  feed  by  regurgitation.  If 
it  is  not  possible  to  see  what  they  are  delivering,  wait  till  the 
old  one  has  gone  away,  then  go  out  and  examine  the  young. 
Four  times  out  of  five  you  can  tell  what  they  have  swallowed 
by  looking  through  the  transparent  skin  of  their  necks.  In 
case  there  is  still  a  doubt,  it  is  not  difficult  to  make  them  dis- 
gorge by  placing  a  thumb  and  finger  below  the  mass  and 
working  it  upward  to  the  mouth.  Simple  honesty  demands 
that  it  be  returned  when  you  are  done  with  it. 

See  how  many  hours  a  day  the  old  birds  attend  their  young 
and  how  many  times  they  average  to  feed  per  hour.  Estimate 
the  proportion  of  each  kind  of  food  from  an  examination  of 
your  notes.  Then  by  weighing  samples  of  the  different  kinds 
you  can  quickly  compute  the  daily  consumption. 

As  a  check  on  the  above  method  weigh  the  young  at  the 
same  hour  every  day.  Collect  several  excreta  and  find  the 
average  weight,  also  observe  the  average  number  voided  per 
hour.  The  weight  of  excrement  for  the  day  plus  the  bird's 
gain  in  \veight  for  the  day  will  give  the  weight  of  food  con- 
sumed, less  the  small  amount  lost  by  respiration. 

The  excreta  of  young  birds  is  so  well  wrapped  in  a  coat  of 
albumen  that  it  is  not  so  objectionable  to  handle  as  might  be 
supposed.  It  may  be  obtained  at  any  time  by  taking  the 
bird  from  the  nest  and  keeping  it  out  for  a  few  minutes. 

In  order  to  distinguish  one  nestling  from  another  they  may 


16 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


be  marked  either  on  the  leg  or  on  the  side  of  the  bill  with  a 
nitrate  of  silver  pencil,  which  may  be  purchased  at  any  drug 
store.  There  may  be  some  difficulty  in  applying  the  pencil  so 
as  to  make  a  good  mark,  owing  to  the  oily  skin  of  the  birds, 
but  see  that  it  is  wet  and  keep  rubbing.  The  marks  will 
need  to  be  renewed  occasionally. 

The  great  value  of  this  method  is  that  it  enables  one  to 
get  photographs  of  the  birds  as  they  are  being  fed,  beautiful 
examples  of  which  are  shown  in  Professor  Herrick's  book. 
There  are,  however,  elements  of  danger  to  the  birds,  \vhich 
should  by  no  means  be  overlooked.  There  is  danger  of 
desertion  by  the  parents,  of  too  much  exposure  to  the  hot 
rays  of  the  sun,  of  lack  of  protection  from  the  cold  of  night 
or  of  the  storm  and  stress  of  weather,  as  well  as  of  various 
living  enemies.  No  one  should  remove  a  nest  from  its  original 
site  who  is  not  willing  to  take  every  possible  precaution  to 
avoid  a  tragedy. 


HEAD  OF  BROWN  THRASHER. 


OF    TH£ 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


THE   BARN-OWL   AND   ITS   PREY. 

(After  United  States  Division  of  Biological  Survey.) 


CHAPTER    II. 
THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    ECONOMIC    ORNITHOLOGY. 

WHEN  Columbus  was  making  that  eventful  voyage  which 
led  to  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  he  was  cheered  by 
the  sight  of  small  birds  that  appeared  beside  his  ship,  telling 
him  of  his  approach  to  land.  And  ever  since  then  these 
children  of  the  air  have  been  of  interest  to  the  white  people 
who  have  come  to  America,  as  they  had  been  for  untold  ages 
before  to  the  red  men  who  roamed  over  the  continent.  The 
early  New  England  settlers  were  troubled  by  some  birds 
against  which  they  declared  war,  and  cheered  by  others  to 
which  they  extended  the  offerings  of  friendship.  And  even 
in  those  early  days  there  were  some  men  who  found  in  the 
study  of  birds  a  source  of  delight  to  which  they  gladly  gave 
their  time.  It  is  nearly  two  centuries  since  Mark  Catesby 
wandered  through  the  wilds  of  Florida,  and  Carolina,  seeking 
out  the  birds  and  other  animals  of  those  unexplored  regions, 
the  publication  of  his  results  having  been  begun  in  1731. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were  many 
workers  in  the  field,  the  most  prominent  being  Bartram, 
Latham,  and  Barton.  And  before  the  end  of  that  century 
Alexander  Wilson  came  over  from  Scotland  to  begin  those 
pedler  journeys  during  which  he  became  interested  in  Ameri- 
can birds. 

At  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  Wilson  was  greatly 
interested  in  our  bird  life,  and  as  early  as  1808  began  the 
publication  of  his  splendid  volumes  on  American  Ornithology. 
As  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer  has  well  said, — in  an  admirable  paper,1  of 

1  A  Review  of  Economic  Ornithology,  Yearbook,  Dept.  Agr.,  1899, 
pp.  259-£92. 

2  17 


18  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

part  of  which  the  present  chapter  is  necessarily  a  poor  parallel, 
— this  work  of  Wilson's  laid  the  true  foundation  of  ornithology 
in  the' United  States.  And  it  contained  many  references  to 
the  purely  economic  phases  of  bird  life,  showing  again  and 
again  the  value  of  different  species  as  destroyers  of  insects. 
Before  the  century  had  run  its  first  quarter  the  great  Audubon 
was  exploring  the  wilderness  in  all  directions,  making  wonder- 
ful paintings  of  its  bird  inhabitants  and  drawing  up  excellent 
accounts  of  their  ways  and  habits.  The  publication  of  his 
work  began  in  1827  and  continued  till  1839.  He  also  made 
many  references  to  feeding  habits  and  economic  values,  as 
did  Nuttall,  whose  volumes,  published  from  1832  to  1834, 
were  largely  based  on  the  works  of  these  two  earlier  naturalists. 
From  1850  onward  the  technical  science  of  ornithology 
made  wonderful  strides,  which  it  is  no  part  of  our  present 
purpose  to  describe.  But  about  this  date  various  persons 
interested  in  agriculture  began  to  see  the  value  of  birds  as 
insect  destroyers,  realizing  that  the  unchecked  destruction  of 
these  feathered  allies  was  leading  to  an  alarming  increase 
of  insect  pests.  The  agricultural  journals  and  the  reports  of 
agricultural  and  horticultural  societies  began  to  publish  many 
excellent  articles,  which  showed  careful  observations  and 
thoughtful  consideration  of  the  relation  of  birds  to  crop  pro- 
duction. The  titles  of  most  of  these  papers  will  be  found 
in  the  bibliography  at  the  end  of  this  book,  so  that  there  is 
no  need  for  specific  mention  here.  One  by  Wilson  Flagg, 
however,  published  in  the  Report  on  the  Agriculture  of 
Massachusetts  for  1861,  is  so  remarkable  that  we  cannot  pass 
it  by.  It  is  entitled  "  The  Utility  of  Birds,"  and  is  a  general 
survey  of  the  field  which  would  do  honor  to  a  man  to-day, 
after  all  the  intervening  years  of  study  and  discovery.  It  is 
based  on  the  thesis  distinctly  stated  in  these  words,  which  are 
italicized  in  the  original  article, — that  each  species  of  bird  per- 
forms certain  services  in  the  economy  of  nature,  which  cannot  be 
so  well  accomplished  by  any  other  species.  This  paper  was 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ECONOMIC  ORNITHOLOGY.   19 

printed  shortly  after  the  publication  of  a  remarkable  article 
by  Professor  J.  W.  P.  Jenks,  in  which  an  elaborate  study  of 
the  food  of  the  robin  was  recorded.  In  this  study  the  modern 
method  of  examining  the  contents  of  the  alimentary  tract  and 
estimating  the  ratios  of  the  food  elements  found  was  em- 
ployed, apparently  for  the  first  time  in  any  elaborate  way. 
During  the  same  year  (1858)  that  Professor  Jenks  was  making 
his  investigations,  another  Massachusetts  man,  Professor  D. 
Treadwell,  made  some  remarkable  observations  upon  the 
amount  of  food  required  by  young  robins,  the  results  of 
which  have  often  been  quoted. 

During  the  decade  from  1860  to  1870  there  was  a  great 
deal  of  discussion  regarding  the  influence  of  birds  upon  agri- 
culture. The  transactions  of  the  various  agricultural  and 
horticultural  societies  and  the  agricultural,  horticultural,  and 
entomological  journals  of  this  period  contain  frequent  references 
to  the  subject.  The  statement  by  Dr.  B.  D.  Walsh,  the  first 
State  Entomologist  of  Illinois,  that  birds  were  of  doubtful 
value  because  of  the  parasitic  insects  they  devoured,  led  to 
much  comment ;  this  statement  is  discussed  in  Chapter  VII. 
of  the  present  work. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Professor  Samuel  Aughey,  of 
Nebraska,  began  his  remarkable  investigation  of  the  relations 
of  birds  to  outbreaks  of  Rocky  Mountain  locusts,  the  results 
of  which  are  summarized  in  Chapter  VI.  herewith.  These 
observations  were  not  published,  however,  until  near  the  close 
of  the  next  decade, — 1878.  This  was  the  most  important 
study  of  the  subject  carried  on  during  the  decade  from  1870 
to  1880,  although  before  the  close  of  this  period  Professor  S. 
A.  Forbes,  State  Entomologist  of  Illinois  and  Director  of  the 
Illinois  State  Laboratory  of  Natural  History,  had  begun  the 
studies  on  which  the  classic  papers  published  during  the  next 
decade  were  based.  During  the  early  years  of  the  next 
decade  Professor  Forbes  published  several  papers  which  may 
fairly  be  said  to  furnish  the  basis  for  the  modern  development 


20  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

of  economic  ornithology.  The  most  important  of  these  have 
the  following  titles  :  u  The  Food  of  Birds"  (1880) ;  "  On  some 
Interactions  of  Organisms1'  (1880);  "Notes  on  Insectivorous 
Coleoptera"  (1880) ;  uThe  Food  Relations  of  the  Carabidae  and 
the  Coccinellidse"  (1883);  "The  Regulative  Action  of  Birds 
upon  Insect  Oscillations'1  (1883).  These  papers,  by  one  of 
the  most  scholarly  naturalists  America  has  ever  known,  were 
as  remarkable  for  their  philosophic  breadth  of  view  as  they 
were  for  the  care  with  which  the  last  detail  was  followed  out. 
On  the  whole  they  still  remain  the  most  satisfactory  papers 
upon  economic  ornithology  that  have  been  published. 

In  1882  Professor  F.  H.  King,  of  Wisconsin,  published  an 
elaborate  paper  on  the  "Economic  Relations  of  Wisconsin 
Birds,11  and  in  1886  Dr.  B.  H.  Warren  published  a  report  upon 
the  "Birds  of  Pennsylvania.11  Each  of  these  contained  the 
results  of  many  studies  of  bird  food  and  was  an  important 
contribution  to  economic  ornithology. 

During  the  latter  half  of  that  decade  the  subject  of  eco- 
nomic ornithology  was  taken  up  by  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  and  the  story  of  the  development  of  the 
subject  since  that  time  has  been  chiefly  the  story  of  the 
operations  of  the  Division  of  Biological  Survey.  This  work 
has  been  so  well  summarized  by  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer,  Assistant 
Chief  of  the  Survey,  that  we  quote  from  his  paper  at  consid- 
erable length. 

"  One  of  the  most  important  results  of  the  organization  of 
the  American  Ornithologists1  Union  was  the  impetus  given  to 
the  study  of  economic  ornithology.  Committees  on  the  Eng- 
lish sparrow,  bird  migration,  and  geographical  distribution 
were  appointed  at  the  first  meeting,  and  elaborate  investiga- 
tions were  at  once  begun.  The  work,  however,  had  been 
planned  on  such  a  large  scale  that  it  soon  outgrew  the  re- 
sources of  the  committees,  and  at  the  second  annual  meeting 
of  the  union  it  was  determined  to  present  a  memorial  to 
Congress  to  secure  an  appropriation  for  continuing  it.  The 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ECONOMIC  ORNITHOLOGY.   21 

relation  of  birds  to  agriculture  is  so  intricate  and  the  thorough 
study  of  their  food  so  difficult,  on  account  of  the  amount  of 
time  and  material  required,  that  investigations  of  this  kind 
are  ordinarily  beyond  the  means  of  private  individuals  and 
are  entitled  to  government  support.  In  recognition  of  the 
importance  of  the  work,  Congress  granted  an  appropriation 
of  five  thousand  dollars,  to  be  expended  under  the  Division 
of  Entomology  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  and  on 
July  1,  1885,  established  a  section  of  economic  ornithology. 
Under  the  direction  of  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam,  investigations 
were  outlined  on  a  broad  scale,  to  include  the  'food  habits, 
distribution,  and  migration  of  North  American  birds  and 
mammals  in  relation  to  agriculture,  horticulture,  and  forestry.' 
A  year  later  the  section  became  an  independent  Division,  and 
in  1896  its  name  was  changed  by  Congress  to  the  broader 
title  of  Division  of  Biological  Survey. 

;i  FIRST    PUBLICATIONS    OF    THE    DIVISION. 

u  Upon  the  organization  of  the  Division  of  Ornithology  and 
Mammalogy,  the  data  collected  by  several  of  the  committees 
of  the  American  Ornithologists'  Union  were  turned  over  to  it 
and  formed  the  basis  of  its  first  two  bulletins.  The  notes  on 
distribution  and  migration  of  birds  were  published  in  1888 
under  the  title  '  Bird  Migration  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,'  and 
the  report  on  '  The  English  Sparrow  in  America'  appeared  in 
the  following  year.  The  latter  report  contained  a  full  ac- 
count of  the  sparrow  and  its  introduction  into  the  United 
States,  its  depredations  on  crops,  and  recommendations  for 
destroying  it,  or  at  least  preventing  its  increase.  Special  at- 
tention was  called  to  the  desirability  of  legislation  permitting 
the  destruction  of  the  bird.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
at  the  time  the  bulletin  was  issued  the  English  sparrow  was 
practically  protected  by  law  in  twenty-two  States,  although 
Ohio  and  Michigan  had  taken  steps  to  exterminate  it,  while 
now  most  of  the  States  have  withdrawn  protection,  and  Illi- 


22  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

nois,  Michigan,  Ohio,  and  Utah  have  vainly  attempted  to  de- 
stroy the  pest  under  the  bounty  system. 

u  FUNCTIONS    OF  THE   DIVISION    FROM   THE   STAND-POINT    OF    ECONOMIC 

ORNITHOLOGY. 

"  From  the  stand-point  of  economic  ornithology  the  Divi- 
sion may  be  said  to  have  three  functions  :  (1)  to  determine 
as  accurately  as  possible  the  food  of  birds  of  economic  im- 
portance ;  (2)  to  act  as  a  court  of  appeal  to  investigate  com- 
plaints concerning  depredations  of  birds  on  crops ;  (3)  to 
diffuse  the  results  of  its  work  and  educate  the  public  as  to 
the  value  of  birds.  In  studying  birds'  food  dependence  is 
placed  chiefly  on  examination  of  stomachs  to  ascertain  what 
has  been  actually  eaten.  Stomachs  are  collected  in  different 
localities  at  all  seasons  and  in  sufficient  numbers  to  show 
clearly  the  character  of  the  food.  The  stomach  contents  are 
examined  microscopically  and  identified  by  comparison  with 
reference  collections  of  seeds  and  insects.  This  laboratory 
examination  is  supplemented  by  experiment  and  field  work. 

"  INVESTIGATIONS     REGARDING    SUPPOSED    INJURIOUS    BIRDS. 

"Species  popularly  considered  injurious,  such  as  hawks 
and  owls,  the  crow,  blackbirds,  woodpeckers,  and  blue-jays, 
received  attention  first.  A  report  on  hawks  and  owls  was 
undertaken  by  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher,  one  on  the  crow  by  Professor 
W.  B.  Barrows,  assisted  by  Mr.  E.  A.  Schwarz  in  the  identi- 
fication of  insect  material,  while  the  investigations  on  the 
crow  blackbird,  woodpeckers,  and  blue-jay  were  made  by 
Professor  F.  E.  L.  Beal. 

"The  destruction  of  birds  of  prey  in  Pennsylvania,  fol- 
lowing the  passage  of  the  '  scalp  act '  of  1885,  had  attracted 
wide-spread  interest,  and  showed  the  necessity  for  correcting 
erroneous  views  concerning  the  value  of  hawks  and  owls. 
About  two  thousand  seven  hundred  stomachs  of  these  birds 
were  collected,  the  contents  carefully  examined,  and  the  re- 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   ECONOMIC   ORNITHOLOGY.        23 

suits  published  in  1893  in  a  bulletin  entitled  '  Hawks  and 
Owls  of  the  United  States,'  illustrated  by  twenty-six  colored 
plates.  Of  the  seventy-five  species  and  subspecies  which 
occur  in  America  north  of  Mexico,  only  six  were  found  to  be 
injurious,  while  several  were  shown  to  be  beneficial.  About 
the  time  the  work  was  begun  bounties  on  birds  of  prey 
were,  or  had  recently  been,  offered  by  Colorado,  Indiana, 
N"e\v  Hampshire,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  West 
Virginia.  At  present  not  only  have  all  the  important  State 
bounties  been  withdrawn  (the  acts  still  in  force  are  mainly 
local),  but  several  States  have  adopted  protective  measures. 
New  Hampshire  and  Ohio  began  with  eagles,  Rhode  Island 
with  fish-hawks,  and  New  York  and  Minnesota  with  owls. 
Pennsylvania  and  Alabama  now  protect  all  except  the  six  or 
seven  really  injurious  species,  while  during  the  present  year 
Utah  has  gone  so  far  as  to  make  it  unlawful  to  kill  any  hawks 
or  owls.  Such  changes  show  the  gradual  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  these  really  useful  birds. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  crow  nearly  one  thousand  stomachs  were 
examined,  and  the  charges  of  pulling  up  sprouting  corn,  of 
injuring  corn  in  the  milk,  of  destroying  fruit,  and  of  destroy- 
ing eggs  of  poultry  and  wild  birds  were  all  sustained.  But  it 
was  found  that  corn  in  the  milk  formed  only  three  per  cent, 
of  the  total  food,  and  most  of  the  corn  destroyed  was  waste 
grain ;  that  the  destruction  of  fruit  and  eggs  was  trivial,  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  many  noxious  insects  and  mice  were 
eaten.  The  verdict  was  therefore  rendered  in  favor  of  the 
crow,  since,  on  the  whole,  the  bird  seemed  to  do  more  good 
than  harm. 

"  Similar  studies  of  crow  blackbirds  (based  on  about  two 
thousand  three  hundred  stomachs)  and  woodpeckers  (in- 
cluding nearly  seven  hundred  stomachs),  published  in  1895, 
showed  that  these  birds  were  decidedly  beneficial.  Only  one 
of  the  seven  species  of  woodpeckers  examined — the  yellow- 
bellied — exhibited  any  questionable  traits, — namely,  a  fond- 


24  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

ness  for  the  sap  and  inner  bark  of  trees.  Of  the  forty  or  fifty 
birds,  exclusive  of  hawks  and  owls,  thus  far  investigated,  the 
English  sparrow  is  the  only  one  which  has  been  condemned. 

"INVESTIGATIONS  REGARDING  BENEFICIAL  BIRDS. 

"  A  number  of  species  usually  considered  beneficial  have 
also  received  attention.  The  Baltimore  oriole,  the  meadow- 
lark,  red-winged  blackbird,  rose-breasted  grosbeak,  cedar- 
bird,  robin,  bluebird,  swallows,  and  several  flycatchers  have 
been  studied  by  Professor  Beal,  and  the  shrikes,  cat-bird, 
mocking-bird,  brown  thrasher,  and  house  wren  by  Dr.  Syl- 
vester D.  Judd.  One  of  the  interesting  facts  brought  out  in 
studying  the  cat-bird  was  the  discovery  that  some  birds  prefer 
wild  to  cultivated  fruits,  so  that  the  latter  may  be  protected 
by  planting  certain  berry-bearing  shrubs  and  trees,  especially 
in  regions  where  wild  fruit  is  naturally  scarce.  The  king- 
bird, frequently  condemned  as  a  destroyer  of  honey-bees,  was 
shown  to  eat  very  few  bees,  and  these  mostly  drones.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  kills  many  of  the  destructive  robber  flies, 
and  a  large  proportion  of  its  food  is  made  up  of  destructive 
insects,  so  that  it  must  be  regarded  as  decidedly  beneficial. 
Recent  investigations  show  less  favorable  results  in  the  case 
of  some  other  flycatchers,  and  indicate  that  the  prevailing 
idea  that  all  insectivorous  birds  are  necessarily  beneficial 
may  require  decided  modification,  and  that  there  are  birds 
which  habitually  feed  on  beneficial  insects  to  such  an  extent 
as  to  lower  their  value  to  the  farmer,  if  not  to  place  them 
among  the  enemies  of  his  crops. 

"RESULTS  OF  FOURTEEN  YEARS'  WORK. 

"  As  a  result  of  fourteen  years1  work,  the  Biological  Survey 
has  brought  together  a  collection  of  about  thirty-two  thousand 
bird  stomachs,  of  which  some  fourteen  thousand  have  been 
examined.  It  has  investigated  about  one  hundred  species 
(nearly  half  hawks  and  owls)  and  prepared  the  results  for 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ECONOMIC  ORNITHOLOGY.   25 

publication  in  the  form  of  bulletins  or  special  papers.  The 
publications  on  birds  already  issued  include  seven  special 
bulletins,  fifteen  papers  in  the  Annual  Reports  for  1886-1893, 
inclusive,  and  eight  papers  in  the  Yearbooks  for  1894-1898. 
Some  of  these  papers,  such  as  '  Seed-planting  by  Birds,' 
'  Hawks  and  Owls  from  the  Stand-point  of  the  Farmer,' 
1  Birds  that  injure  Grain,'  and  'Birds  as  Weed  Destroyers,' 
deal  with  general  topics  of  special  interest.  The  investiga- 
tions on  some  thirty  grain-  and  insect-eating  birds  were  sum- 
marized in  1897  for  a  bulletin  entitled  'Common  Birds  in 
their  Relation  to  Agriculture,'  and  the  work  of  the  Division 
has  also  formed  the  basis  of  two  important  summaries,  one 
by  Miss  Florence  A.  Merriarn,  entitled  '  How  Birds  affect  the 
Farm  and  Garden,'  the  other  by  Professor  Beal,  on  '  Eco- 
nomic Relations  of  Birds  and  their  Food.' 

u  The  educational  work  of  the  Biological  Survey  has  not 
been  confined  to  laboratory  studies  or  publications.  The 
Division  has  prepared  exhibits  to  illustrate  the  food  habits  of 
birds  and  modern  methods  of  investigation  for  the  expositions 
at  Cincinnati  in  1888,  Chicago  in  1893,  Atlanta  in  1895,  and 
Nashville  in  1897.  It  endorsed  the  proposition  to  establish 
a  'Bird-day'  in  the  schools  in  1894,  and  issued  a  circular  on 
the  subject  two  years  later.  Ever  since  its  organization  it  has 
acted  as  a  bureau  of  information  on  all  subjects  relating  to 
birds  or  their  distribution  and  habits.  In  short,  it  has  spared 
no  effort  to  advance  the  cause  of  economic  ornithology  in 
every  possible  way." 

Such  a  record  as  this  is  certainly  one  in  which  any  com- 
pany of  workers  may  well  take  pride.  And  when  we  realize 
how  few  the  workers  have  been  and  how  great  has  been  the 
territory  they  have  covered,  we  can  but  feel  that  remarkable 
results  have  been  accomplished. 

As  to  the  future  progress  of  economic  ornithology  it  is 
becoming  more  and  more  evident  to  careful  students  of  the 
subject  that  much  of  the  best  work  hereafter  must  be  in  ten- 


26  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

sive  rather  than  extensive.  In  the  preliminary  stages  of  our 
knowledge  the  miscellaneous  collection  of  bird  stomachs  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  is  a  neces- 
sary and  useful  step.  The  results  thus  obtained  in  regard  to 
many  species  are  of  great  value,  but  in  the  case  of  others, 
notably  those  of  doubtful  utility  to  man, — as,  e.g.,  the  fly- 
catchers mentioned  above  by  Dr.  Palmer, — they  must  be 
supplemented  by  careful  studies  on  the  intensive  plan.  An 
excellent  example  of  this  is  Dr.  S.  D.  Judd's  notable  study  of 
the  food  preferences  of  the  cat-bird,1  and  other  studies  of  the 
same  sort  are  being  made  by  Dr.  Judd  and  other  members  of 
the  Biological  Survey  on  a  farm  near  Washington  controlled 
by  the  Survey.2 

It  was  long  ago  pointed  put  by  Forbes  that  many  of  the 
most  important  problems  in  economic  ornithology  rested  at 
bottom  upon  the  science  of  entomology.  And  in  the  diffi- 
cult and  perplexing  problems  that  arise  in  the  case  of  many 
species  a  fuller  development  of  entomological  knowledge  is 
greatly  needed.  One  of  the  most  important  of  these  topics 
is  that  of  the  relation  of  parasitic  insects  to  each  other  and 
to  their  hosts. 

The  discussion  in  this  chapter  has  been  purposely  re- 
stricted to  the  development  of  our  knowledge  of  the  more 
general  economic  relations  of  birds.  For  a  history  of  the 
various  special  phases  of  the  subject — game,  eggs,  feathers, 
guano,  introduction  of  foreign  birds — the  reader  is  referred  to 
Dr.  Palmer's  article  in  the  Yearbook  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  for  1899. 

1  American  Naturalist,  vol.  xxxi.  pp.  392-397. 

2  See  "Birds  of  a  Maryland  Farm,1'  Bulletin  No.  17,  Division  of  Bio- 
logical Survey. 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 


Photographed  from  life  by  Dr.  K.  W.  tihufeldt. 

CEDAR-BIRDS. 


CHAPTER    III. 
THE   VEGETABLE    FOOD    OF    BIRDS. 

A  COMPREHENSIVE  survey  of  the  feeding  habits  of  birds 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  the  common  terms  vegetivorous 
and  insectivorous  have  but  a  relative  significance.  They 
imply  predominance  in  a  given  diet  rather  than  an  exclusive 
restriction  to  it.  We  cannot  indicate  a  single  finch,  grouse, 
or  pigeon — the  most  exclusive  of  the  vegetarians — and  say 
that  it  never  eats  insects,  while  on  the  other  hand,  after  being 
assured  that  swallows  and  flycatchers — the  most  persistent  of 
the  insect  hunters — sometimes  eat  berries,  we  cannot  feel  jus- 
tified in  maintaining  upon  purely  negative  evidence  that  any 
of  the  so-called  insectivorous  birds  never  eats  vegetable  food. 

The  vegetation  eaten  by  birds  may  conveniently  be  con- 
sidered under  three  heads, — namely,  fruits,  foliage,  and  roots. 
Under  the  first  would  be  included  all  seeds  and  seed-bearing 
products  of  plants ;  they  may  be  subdivided  into  seeds  and 
achenes,  nuts,  and  fleshy  fruits.  Under  the  second  head 
would  be  comprised  leaves,  buds,  and  blossoms ;  while  the 
third  would  include  roots  and  root  products. 

The  largest  proportion  of  the  seeds  eaten  by  birds  are  pro- 
duced by  herbs,  most  of  which  are  useless,  while  many  of  them 
are  noxious  weeds.  The  quantity  of  pestiferous  seeds  thus 
annually  destroyed  is  enormous,  and  man  is  deeply  indebted 
to  the  birds  that  destroy  them.  The  great  group  of  many- 
flowered  plants — the  order  Composite — supplies  food  for  a 
multitude  of  small  finches.  Early  in  the  season  the  downy 
heads  of  the  dandelion  call  sparrows  and  goldfinches  to 
lawns  and  road-sides.  A  little  later  horse-weeds  and  thistles 
furnish  similar  food  to  the  same  hungry  company.  The 
ragweed,  which  springs  up  unbidden  everywhere,  is  perhaps 

27 


28  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

the  best  bird  provider  in  this  family ;  in  grain-fields,  along 
road-sides,  and  in  worn-out  pastures  this  plant  affords  the 
birds  a  feast  unsurpassed  either  in  amount  or  duration. 
During  the  latter  part  of  their  stay  the  summer  sparrows 
largely  depend  upon  it ;  while  in  the  winter  bob-whites,  gold- 
finches, redpolls,  English  sparrows,  snow-flakes,  and  horned 
larks  make  festival  among  its  miniature  branches.  Even 
the  red-headed  and  red-bellied  woodpeckers  as  well  as  the 
flicker  have  been  known  to  partake  of  these  ragweed  seeds. 

The  buckwheat  family — the  order  Polygonaoece — also  fur- 
nishes a  liberal  supply  of  food  to  many  birds.  The  list  of 
birds  that  devour  these  triangular  seeds  is  a  long  one.  Knot- 
weed,  sheep-sorrel,  dock,  bindweed,  and  many  more — each 
contributes  to  the  birds  that  frequent  its  station.  Juncos, 
chipping-sparrows,  and  redpolls  come  to  the  door-yard  to 
glean  among  the  knotweed ;  cow-birds,  redwings,  mourning- 
doves,  bob-whites,  and  flickers  look  for  the  seeds  of  dock  and 
bindweed  in  fields  and  meadows  ;  mallards,  teals,  and  other 
river  ducks  dabble  for  the  seeds  of  wrater-smartweed  and 
other  aquatic  or  semi-aquatic  varieties,  making  a  full  meal  of 
them  whenever  they  are  able  to  do  so. 

The  seeds  of  the  pigweeds,  hemp,  mullein,  and  a  host  of 
other  weeds  belonging  to  less  numerous  families  are  also 
freely  drawn  upon  for  the  support  of  bird  life. 

The  wild  grasses  of  the  order  Graminece  also  supply  their 
share.  Among  them  the  pigeon  and  other  grasses  of  the 
genus  Setaria  are  perhaps  the  most  important  in  bird  economy, 
as  they  invade  cultivated  ground  everywhere  and  are  fed 
upon  very  generally  by  sparrows  and  many  other  birds.  In 
swamps  and  along  the  borders  of  ponds  and  streams,  es- 
pecially in  the  Southern  and  Western  States,  wild  rice  grows 
abundantly,  and  during  the  autumnal  migration  it  is  often  the 
predominating  element  in  the  diet  of  such  marsh-loving  birds 
as  bobolinks,  blackbirds,  rails,  and  ducks,  all  of  which  be- 
come very  fat  upon  it. 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD   OF   BIRDS.  29 

Cultivated  grains  are  consumed  in  varying  *  quantities  by  a 
large  number  of  birds,  though  comparatively  few  commit 
appreciable  depredations,  the  grain  eaten  being  generally 
gleaned  after  harvest.  All  varieties  of  small  grain,  such  as 
wheat,  rye,  oats,  and  related  kinds,  are  taken  without  apparent 
discrimination.  The  birds  that  habitually  feed  upon  them 
are  those  already  named  as  eaters  of  the  larger  seeds, — 
crows,  jays,  blackbirds,  pigeons,  prairie-chickens,  and  other 
members  of  the  grouse  family,  sparrows,  meadow-larks, 
horned  larks,  brown  thrashers,  towhees,  and  others.  The 
crows,  blue-jays,  blackbirds,  and  English  sparrows  do  con- 
siderable harm  at  times,  though  it  is  probable  that  the  insects 
destroyed  at  other  times  by  all  except  the  English  sparrow 
go  far  to  compensate  the  loss.  Pigeons  and  grouse  are  not 
sufficiently  abundant  to  do  much  damage.  In  the  West  wild 
ducks  and  geese  visit  the  grain-fields  and  sometimes  cause 
considerable  injury  by  taking  the  sprouting  seed  from  the 
newly  sown  fields.  During  the  fall  migration  the  southern 
rice-fields  attract  many  birds.  Foremost  among  these  are  the 
bobolinks,  or  rice-birds  as  they  are  called  in  the  South,  and 
blackbirds,  both  of  which  at  this  time  are  content  to  live  by 
rice  alone.  They  assemble  in  countless  flocks  and  commit 
serious  depredations  against  the  rice-planters.  Ducks  and 
other  water-birds  also  resort  to  the  rice  plantations  for  a  share 
of  the  plunder,  but  what  these  get  is  generally  compensated 
for  in  the  feathers  and  flesh  that  the  owners  obtain. 

Indian  corn,  or  maize,  on  account  of  its  larger  kernels  is 
precluded  from  the  food  list  of  most  of  the  sparrows,  but 
otherwise  it  has  the  same  depredators  as  the  smaller  grains. 
Among  the  casual  devourers  of  maize  are  the  woodpeckers 
and  nuthatches,  which  seem  to  prefer  it  to  all  other  cereals. 

Cultivated  grasses  and  clover  seeds  are  frequently  taken  by 
sparrows.  Sunflower  seeds  are  sought  by  the  more  arboreal 
finches,  like  the  purple  finch,  goldfinch,  and  the  cross-bills. 
In  the  garden  we  find  that  lettuce,  turnip,  and  similar  seeds 


30  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN, 

are  enjoyed  by  goldfinches,  and  that  English  sparrows  and 
Baltimore  orioles  occasionally  fall  into  the  evil  habit  of  eating 
green  peas.  Except  in  rare  instances,  however,  these  garden 
invasions  are  insignificant. 

Among  the  trees  that  contribute  seeds  to  the  birds,  the  dif- 
ferent species  of  elms  deserve  notice,  the  more  especially  as 
their  seeds  mature  earlier  than  those  of  most  other  plants. 
The  seeds  of  the  widely  diffused  white  elm  ripen  in  the  lati- 
tude of  central  New  England  about  the  first  of  June,  and  at 
once  become  a  lure  to  the  arboreal  seed-eaters, — cross-bills, 
goldfinches,  and  purple  finches, — which  when  the  seeds  fall 
follow  them  to  join  the  host  of  u  ground  sparrows,"  song, 
vesper,  and  others,  that  ordinarily  live  on  the  seeds  of  weeds 
and  do  not  feel  at  ease  away  from  the  cover  of  low  vegetation. 

The  birches  are  also  important  elements  in  bird  food,  because 
their  tiny  winged  seeds  are  quite  persistent,  many  of  them  cling- 
ing to  the  catkins  throughout  the  winter.  They  offer  an  un- 
failing supply  so  long  as  they  remain  upon  the  trees,  and  are 
liberally  patronized  by  the  winter  finches,  redpolls,  siskins,  arid 
cross-bills.  The  small  gray  birch  is  levied  upon  in  autumn  by 
chipping  and  field  sparrows,  and  in  winter  it  becomes  an  es- 
pecial favorite  with  j  uncos,  tree-sparrows,  and  redpolls.  Seeds 
of  the  yellow  birch  are  sought  by  redpolls,  siskins,  and  cross- 
bills, the  last  two  more  particularly  as  they  prefer  the  woods, 
where  this  species  is  usually  found,  to  more  open  pastures. 
The  seeds  of  the  other  birches  are  also  eaten  to  some  extent, 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  be  held  in  such  high  regard  by  birds 
as  the  two  kinds  that  have  been  mentioned. 

Maple  seeds  are  more  or  less  important  in  bird  economy 
according  to  circumstances.  As  a  rule,  the  sparrows  and 
finches  do  not  care  for  them  so  much  as  for  smaller  seeds 
that  are  more  easily  swallowed.  The  winter  grosbeaks,  pine 
and  evening,  however,  find  them  quite  to  their  taste,  and  give 
them  almost  exclusive  attention  so  long  as  the  supply  holds 
out.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a  severe  drouth  in  August 


OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY 

Of 
^  LI  FOR 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD   OF    BIRDS. 


31 


dries  the  stems  of  maple  seeds  before  they  have  become 
woody,  so  that  they  are  tough  enough  to  withstand  the  blasts 
of  autumn,  and  thus  remain  upon  the  trees  indefinitely. 
Under  these  conditions  the  grosbeaks  find  life  easy  and  never 
quit  the  neighborhood  of  trees  thus  laden  until  the  last  seed 
is  plucked.  If  the  ground  is  not  covered  with  snow,  they 
frequently  obtain  maple  seeds  after  these  are  fallen. 

Among  the  other  deciduous  trees  bearing  dry  fruits  eaten 
by  birds  are  the  poplars,  sycamores,  and  ash-trees.  None  of 
them  are  in  general  favor,  however,  the  larger  finches  and 
grosbeaks  being  their  only  patrons. 

The  cone-bearing  trees  cater  to  a  rather  select  company  of 
birds.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  white  pine,  the  vaned 
seeds  of  which  are  so 
deeply  hidden  between 
the  scales  of  its  great 
cones  that  they  cannot 
be  extracted  by  ordinary 
bird  tools.  There  are  a 
few  specialists,  however, 
endowed  with  an  appe- 
tite for  such  seeds  and  an 
adequate  apparatus  for 
obtaining  them.  These 
are  the  cross-bills,  whose 
falcate  mandibles  are 
admirably  adapted  for 
grasping  the  vane  of  a 

pine  seed  and  thus  withdrawing  it  from  its  hiding-place.  The 
siskin  is  another  lover  of  pine  seeds,  and  it  is  able  to  supply 
its  wants  by  having  a  bill  which  for  a  finch  is  very  long  and 
acute.  Although  most  of  the  white-pine  seeds  fall  in  Sep- 
tember, enough  remain  in  place  to  keep  the  birds  supplied 
until  early  winter.  Besides  these  specialists,  several  other 
birds  occasionally  eat  pine  seeds.  Any  of  the  seed  eater? 


WHITE-WINGED  CROSS-BILL. 


32  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

finding  these  strewn  upon  the  ground  seem  ready  to  accept 
them,  as  are  also  the  woodpeckers  and  the  brown  creepers, 
when  fortune  favors  them  with  stray  kernels  in  famine  time. 

Hemlock  cones  are  so  much  smaller  than  those  of  the 
white  pine  that  the  seeds  are  more  accessible,  and  conse- 
quently have  a  somewhat  larger  following.  The  siskins  and 
the  cross-bills  are  very  fond  of  them,  and  wherever  they  find 
a  fruitful  growth  they  are  likely  to  remain  till  the  store  is 
spent, — usually  about  midwinter.  After  the  snow  has  come, 
covering  the  weeds,  goldfinches  also  resort  to  the  hemlocks. 
Even  the  chickadees,  nuthatches,  and  woodpeckers  seem  to 
find  it  agreeable  to  sandwich  these  seeds  in  with  their  fare  of 
frozen  insects. 

The  spruces  have  larger  and  more  refractory  cones  than 
the  hemlock,  and  rank  about  with  the  white  pine  in  bird 
economy.  The  other  coniferous  trees  are  of  varying  impor- 
tance in  this  connection,  but  an  account  of  them  would  not 
differ  materially  from  that  for  those  already  mentioned. 

Comparatively  few  of  the  vegetivorous  birds  are  capable 
of  devouring  nuts!  Crows  and  blue-jays,  by  holding  them 
between  their  toes  and  their  perch,  are  able  with  their  strong 
bills  to  remove  the  shells  from  any  of  the  thin-shelled  nuts, 
and  during  the  mast  season  feed  largely  upon  them.  The 
wild  doves,  pigeons,  grouse,  turkeys,  and  many  of  the  ducks 
eat  them  entire,  leaving  the  task  of  shelling  to  their  muscular 
gizzards.  To  all  these  birds  nuts  are  a  standard  article  of 
diet..  To  the  nuthatches  and  woodpeckers  they  are  among 
the  contingencies,  as  a  rule,  though  some  of  the  western 
woodpeckers  seem  to  depend  upon  them  considerably  for 
winter  food.  The  smaller  nuts,  or  nutlets,  approaching  the 
borderland  of  the  seed-like  achenes,  such  as  those  of  the 
hornbeams  and  basswood,  are  eaten  to  some  extent  by  the 
grosbeaks  and  woodpeckers. 

There  are  a  number  of  dry  fruits  intermediate  between 
nuts  and  soft  fruits  which  are  of  some  consequence  to  birds 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD   OF   BIRDS.  33 

on  account  of  their  persistence.  The  various  sorts  of  sumach 
berries  fall  in  this  class.  These  berries  remain  throughout 
the  winter  as  they  grew,  and  during  the  season  of  want  add 
materially  to  the  food  supply  of  northern  birds.  Ruffed 
grouse,  crows,  jays,  woodpeckers,  nuthatches,  and  chickadees 
frequently  partake  of  them  when  the  ground  is  covered  with 
snow.  Brown  thrashers,  cat-birds,  mocking-birds,  bluebirds, 
robins,  and  even  kingbirds  eat  them  at  times,  though  prob- 
ably never  to  any  considerable  extent.  It  is  interesting  to 


CEDAR-BERRIES. 


note  in  passing  that  the  berries  of  the  poison-ivy  and  poison- 
sumach  are  eaten  as  freely  as  those  of  any  other  species  of 
equal  abundance. 

The  small  hard  berries  of  the  red  cedar  and  juniper  con- 
tribute to  the  livelihood  of  practically  the  same  company. 
They  are  especially  sought  by  cedar-birds  and  are  evidently 
enjoyed  by  purple  finches,  pine  grosbeaks,  and  myrtle  war- 
blers ;  the  latter  bird,  however,  depends  in  cold  weather 
more  upon  bayberries  than  anything  else.  In  fact,  it  gets 
its  name  from  one  of  the  vernacular  names  of  the  shrub  that 

3 


34 


BIRDS    IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


bears  them, — wax-myrtle.  Bayberries  are  also  eaten  by  other 
winter  birds  and  late  migrants,  much  the  same  as  sumach  and 
cedar-berries  are. 

These  dry  fruits  must  be  reckoned  as  necessities  rather 
than  luxuries  in  bird  economy :  except  the  bayberries,  they 
are  seldom  eaten  when  more  palatable  fruit  is  to  be  had. 


THE  MYRTLE  WARBLER. 


Pulpy  fruits,  on  the  contrary,  are  evidently  enjoyed  by 
birds,  for  they  form  the  main  diet  of  many  normally  insec- 
tivorous birds  just  when  insects  are  most  abundant.  Of  the 
various  plants,  large  and  small,  bearing  pulpy  fruits,  those  of 
the  rose  family  (Rosacece)  hold  first  place  from  our  present 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD   OF   BIRDS.  35 

point  of  view.  Among  the  many  kinds  of  fruit  produced  by 
this  family  the  cherries  are  most  important,  as  they  are  eaten 
by  all  birds  accustomed  to  taking  fruit  of  any  sort  and  are  to 
be  had  in  unlimited  quantity  during  more  than  two  months 
in  the  year. 

The  wild  red  cherry,  which  is  the  first  to  ripen,  is  least 
esteemed,  though  cedar-birds  appear  to  find  it  quite  satisfac- 
tory. Birds  in  general,  however,  eat  these  far  more  sparingly 
than  they  do  the  later  varieties.  Choke-cherries  and  black 
cherries  form  an  appreciable  percentage  of  the  food  of  cedar- 
birds,  thrushes,  orioles,  jays,  crows,  and  grouse  from  the  time 
the  first  choke-cherries  begin  to  grow  brown  in  midsummer 
until  the  rains  and  frosts  of  autumn  have  despoiled  the  black- 
cherry  trees  of  the  last  of  their  shining  loads.  Crackles,  fly- 
catchers, sparrows,  woodpeckers,  and  pigeons  assist  to  a  lim- 
ited extent,  but  cedar-birds  and  robins  are  the  most  persistent 
devourers,  with  the  flicker  a  close  follower.  The  large  num- 
bers of  cherries  consumed  as  well  as  the  variety  of  birds 
involved  doubtless  depend  somewhat  on  the  fact  that  cherry- 
trees  grow  in  all  sorts  of  places.  The  shy  grouse  and  the 
woodland  thrushes,  cat-birds,  and  thrashers  are  able  to  get 
plenty  of  them  without  being  exposed  to  the  dangers  of  open 
ground ;  while  the  familiar  robins  and  cedar-birds,  which  pre- 
fer cleared  land,  find  all  they  want  by  road-sides  and  pasture 
fences. 

Wild  strawberries,  raspberries,  arid  blackberries  are  all  dear 
to  the  avian  palate.  The  first  are  not  so  largely  eaten  as  the 
other  two,  for  the  reason  that  many  birds  which  undoubtedly 
relish  them  do  not  like  to  hunt  for  them  in  the  grass.  Rasp- 
berries and  blackberries  are  available  to  a  larger  number. 
Cat-birds,  brown  thrashers,  and  sparrows  are  at  home  in  a 
brier  patch  and  enjoy  the  fruits  thereof.  The  ruffed  grouse 
makes  a  regular  practice  of  living  in  blackberry  thickets  while 
the  fruit  is  on  the  vines  and  during  that  time  feeds  upon  little 
else.  The  running  blackberries,  or  dewberries,  near  the  coast 


36 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 


are  frequently  eaten  by  the  larger  shore-birds,  such  as  the 
curlews  and  plovers. 

The  shad-bush  or  service-berry,  another  member  of  the 
rose  family,  is  of  some  value  to  birds,  more  especially  as  its 
fruit  matures  early.  It  is  visited  by  the  same  group  of  birds 
that  flock  to  the  cherry-trees  later  in  the  season,  but  the  quan- 
tities taken  are  not  large. 
The  fact  that  birds  do  not 
gorge  themselves  with  the 
berries  seems  to  be  not 
through  any  fault  of  the 
berries,  but  rather  because 
they  ripen  at  a  time  when 
a  more  concentrated  food 
is  needed  for  the  prose- 
cution of  vernal  activities. 
When  the  nesting  season 
is  over  and  the  year's 
labor  done,  comes  the  time 
for  relaxation,  moulting, 
and  a  general  rejuvenes- 
cence. Then  fruit  is  in 
order:  each  bird  accord- 
ing to  its  nature  seeks  its 
favorite ;  crows  and  jays 
prefer  mast  and  go  to  the 
nut-trees ;  sparrows  loiter 
among  the  weed-thickened 

stubble ;  robins,  cedar-birds,  and  a  host  with  similar  tastes 
gather  at  the  cherry-trees. 

Although  early  fruits  are  more  or  less  neglected,  late 
varieties  of  ever  so  mean  quality  receive  more  attention. 
The  berries  of  the  mountain-ash,  the  last  of  the  wild  species 
of  the  rose  family  to  be  mentioned  here,  are  among  the 
latest  maturing  of  the  wild  fruits.  They  are  unpalatable  to 


WILD   BLACK   CHKKIUES. 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD   OF   BIRDS.  37 

our  taste,  but  the  rear  guard  of  the  southern-bound  migrants 
eat  them  with  apparent  relish.  Cedar-birds,  robins,  and  other 
thrushes  are  especially  fond  of  them. 

The  shrubs  belonging  to  the  honeysuckle  family  (Capri- 
foliacece)  produce  a  number  of  soft  fruits  which  are  consumed 
by  birds.  Those  of  the  Viburnums — sheep-berry,  withe-rod, 
cranberry-tree,  etc. — are  all  patronized  by  grouse,  woodpeckers, 
and  the  thrushes  and  their  allies,  though  by  no  means  with 
the  zest  shown  for  cherries  and  other  more  favored  fruits. 
The  elder-berries,  on  the  other  hand,  have  a  more  pro- 
nounced following.  The  common  elder-berry  in  particular 
attracts  birds  in  such  numbers  and  variety  that  it  ranks 
among  the  leading  wild  fruits  in  this  connection.  The  red- 
berried  elder  is  not  so  highly  regarded,  though  it  is  visited  by 
wood-peckers  and  a  few  other  birds. 

Among  the  late-maturing  berries  are  those  of  the  dog- 
woods, belonging  to  the  order  Cornacece.  There  are  several 
sorts  of  these  which  birds  seern  to  hold  in  about  equal 
esteem.  They  are  taken  in  moderation  by  nearly  or  quite 
all  the  birds  mentioned  above  as  feeding  upon  fruits  of  this 
nature.  The  one  berry  in  this  order  of  which  the  birds  are 
particularly  fond  is  the  sour-gum.  Thrushes,  woodpeckers, 
crows,  jays,  and  grouse  are  found  assembled  for  this  and 
persistently  abiding  by  it  until  the  supply  is  gone. 

Among  the  heaths  (Ericaceae)  the  most  prominent  fruits  on 
the  avian  bill  of  fare  are  the  blueberries  and  huckleberries. 
The  abundance  and  edible  qualities  of  these  berries  suffice  to 
account  for  their  large  consumption  by  all  the  fruit  eaters. 
Birds  find  the  seclusion  of  the  bushes  not  less  agreeable  than 
the  good  food,  just  at  a  time  when  both  are  needed.  It  is 
not  strange  that  so  many  of  them  desert  orchard  and  village 
trees  for  the  blueberry  pastures  when  the  trials  of  rearing  the 
young  are  over. 

The  black  alder,,  of  the  holly  family  (Ilicinece),  is  another 
late-maturing  berry  eaten  by  woodpeckers  and  the  thrushes 


38  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAX. 

and  their  allies.  After  the  leaves  have  fallen  the  bright  red 
color  of  these  berries  renders  them  very  conspicuous.  To  us 
they  have  an  abominable  taste,  but  evidently  the  birds  do  not 
dislike  them.  In  the  wooded  swamps  where  they  grow  one 
may  often  find  robins  up  to  the  verge  of  winter,  long  after 
these  birds  have  disappeared  from  the  fields,  subsisting  almost 
wholly  on  these  berries.  Other  members  of  the  Ilex  family, 
such  as  the  holly  and  Cassenna,  are  also  eaten. 

Among  the  miscellaneous  small  fruits  devoured  by  birds 
must  be  mentioned  the  grapes  and  the  berries  of  the  Vir- 


A  SPRAY   OF   BARBERRIES. 


ginia  creeper,  which  are  taken  by  woodpeckers  and  many 
other  birds.  The  mulberry  has  many  devotees,  among  them 
the  cuckoos.  Pokeweed,  in  spite  of  its  poisonous  properties, 
supplies  berries  for  a  multitude  of  birds.  It  is  a  notable 
fact  that  wherever  a  wood-lot  is  cleared,  pokeweed — if  it 
grows  anywhere  in  the  neighborhood — is  sure  to  spring  up  in 
abundance  from  seeds  dropped  by  birds  at  their  roosts.  Par- 
tridge-berries, which  remain  unchanged  through  the  winter, 
are  relished  by  grouse  and  pigeons  in  both  spring  and  fall. 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD   OF   BIRDS.  39 

The  persistent  fruit  of  the  common  barberry,  which  along  the 
New  England  coast  is  thoroughly  established,  ministers  largely 
to  the  support  of  the  robins,  flickers,  bob-whites,  and  ruffed 
grouse  that  winter  here.  Persimmons,  hackberries,  spice- 
berries,  cranberries,  crowberries,  sarsaparilla,  greenbrier,  In- 
dian turnip,  and  many  other  wild  fruits  are  eaten  by  birds  to 
a  greater  or  less  extent,  but  none  of  them  compare  in  im- 
portance with  those  that  have  been  mentioned. 

THE    CULTIVATED    FRUITS. 

Of  the  cultivated  fruits,  cherries  are  subject  to  pilferings  by 
cedar-birds  and  robins  to  an  irritating  extent.  Cat-birds  and 
woodland  thrushes  are  less  troublesome,  on  account  of  their 
retiring  habits.  Strawberries,  raspberries,  and  blackberries 
are  similarly  affected.  Currants  and  gooseberries  are  on  the 
food  list  of  the  robin  and  the  English  sparrow  at  least. 
Apples  are  tasted  by  pine  and  evening  grosbeaks,  woodpeck- 
ers, blue-jays,  English  sparrows,  and  ruffed  grouse,  but  the 
fruit  thus  molested  is  usually  of  poor  quality,  growing  in 
out-of-the-way  places.  The  grosbeaks  eat  both  seeds  and 
pulp  of  the  apple  during  their  winter  peregrinations.  In 
autumn  the  ruffed  grouse  frequents  the  neighborhood  of 
scrub  apple-trees  in  the  alder  runs  as  well  as  in  neglected 
fields,  and  for  a  month  or  so  subsists  largely  upon  apple 
pulp. 

Pears,  plums,  peaches,  and  oranges  are  occasionally  tapped 
by  English  sparrows  and  woodpeckers,  but  none  of  these 
has  yet  acquired  the  habit  of  molesting  such  fruits  to  any 
considerable  extent. 

On  the  whole,  the  harm  done  by  birds  to  cultivated  fruits 
is  of  comparatively  little  consequence,  except  in  some  of  the 
special  fruit-growing  regions.  Probably  it  rarely  begins  to 
offset  the  good  done  by  the  birds  through  the  destruction  of 
insects. 


40  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


BUDS    AND    BLOSSOMS. 

A  few  birds  make  a  practice  of  eating  the  buds  of  trees 
and  shrubs.  These  are  mostly  winter  birds  which  otherwise 
could  scarcely  find  subsistence  in  the  North  after  snow  falls. 
While  snow  lasts  the  ruffed  grouse  lives  almost  wholly  upon 
buds,  preferring  those  of  poplar,  apple,  and  maple  trees,  but 
occasionally  sampling  the  tips  of  birch,  hazel,  and  other  twigs. 
Pine  and  evening  grosbeaks  are  also  fond  of  buds,  apparently 
without  much  regard  as  to  kind,  for  they  eat  the  buds  of  a 
large  number  of  trees,  both  evergreen  and  deciduous.  In 
early  spring  the  swelling  buds  of  oaks,  maples,  and  elms  are 
relished  by  the  rose-breasted  grosbeak,  purple  finch,  English 
sparrow,  and  the  cross-bills. 

In  the  garden  and  orchard  the  buds  of  grape-vines,  currant- 
bushes,  peach,  plum,  cherry,  apple,  and  pear  trees  are  some- 
times eaten  by  English  sparrows,  purple  finches,  and  pine 
grosbeaks,  but  it  is  rare  that  any  injury  from  this  cause  is 
noticed.  The  ruffed  grouse,  however,  is  capable  of  inflicting 
real  damage  by  a  too  close  pruning  of  buds,  and  cases  are 
known  where  apple  orchards  located  near  woods  have  been 
rendered  useless  by  them. 

The  blossoms  of  trees  are  of  considerable  indirect  interest 
to  a  number  of  birds  because  they  attract  so  many  insects. 
Orioles  and  warblers  are  always  associated  with  apple  blos- 
soms in  the  mind  of  the  naturalist,  because  he  invariably 
finds  them  associated  in  nature.  They  may  sometimes  eat 
a  petal  or  a  few  stamens  :  they  certainly  destroy  a  multitude 
of  insects.  The  cedar-bird,  however,  has  a  liking  for  petals, 
and  devours  them  greedily,  and  so  does  the  purple  finch. 
Probably  other  birds  will  be  found  to  take  parts  of  flowers. 
But  the  eating  of  petals  and  stamens  can  hardly  be  deemed 
injurious  until  it  becomes  much  more  common  than  at  present. 

The  only  native  birds  that  are  given  to  eating  leaves  are. the 
few  wild  species  that  are  most  nearly  related  to  our  domestic 


THE   VEGETABLE   FOOD    OF   BIRDS.  41 

fowls.  The  wild  turkey,  all  of  the  grouse,  the  geese,  and 
many  of  the  ducks  feed  freely  upon  them.  None  of  these 
birds  seem  to  have  much  preference,  but  take  such  leaves  as 
are  found  convenient.  The  ducks,  for  instance,  are  usually 
limited  to  aquatic  plants.  Eel-grass  is  eaten  by  many  of 
them,  notably  the  scaups,  the  red-head,  and  the  canvas-back. 
Geese  are  more  terrestrial,  and  consequently  they  enjoy  a 
more  extensive  bill  of  fare.  The  more  strictly  vegetivorous 
grouse  plucks  right  and  left,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  fol- 
lowing list  of  leaves  taken  by  us  from  the  crops  of  ruffed 
grouse :  crowfoot,  chickweed,  clover  (both  white  and  red), 
strawberry,  barren  strawberry,  everlasting,  dandelion,  golden- 
rod,  sheep-laurel,  sheep-sorrel,  apple,  and  willow.  Sheep- 
laurel,  so  poisonous  to  lambs,  is  eaten  with  impunity,  though 
it  is  thought  to  render  the  flesh  of  the  bird  poisonous  to  man. 
Roots  are  mostly  exempt  from  consumption  by  birds.  The 
crow  occasionally  uncovers  newly  planted  potatoes  and  feeds 
on  them.  Both  Irish  and  sweet  potatoes  are  relished  by 
cranes,  which  are  said  also  to  devour  the  roots  of  pond-lilies. 
The  roots  and  bulbs  of  aquatic  plants  are  eaten  by  geese  and 
vegetivorous  ducks  whenever  they  are  to  be  had.  Only  theN 
larger  birds  are  powerful  enough  to  get  at  roots  or  to  eat 
them  after  they  are  exposed.  The  great  majority  are  con- 
tent to  let  them  fulfil  their  mission,  and  await  results  above 
ground. 

SAP. 

The  sap  of  maples,  birches,  mountain-ash,  and  a  few  other 
trees  is  enjoyed  by  several  of  the  wood-pecking  birds.  Chicka- 
dees may  be  seen,  at  the  right  seasons,  tapping  the  smooth 
twigs  of  maples  and  attentively  sipping  the  forth-coming  drops. 
Some  of  the  woodpeckers  have  the  same  habit.  The  most 
notorious  among  them  are  the  yellow-bellied  woodpeckers, 
or  sapsuckers,  which  are  inveterate  tipplers  of  the  sap  of 
black  and  canoe  birches  and  mountain-ash.  They  also  eat 
the  tender  inner  bark  of  these  and  other  trees. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
THE    ANIMAL   FOOD    OF   BIRDS. 

IN  the  later  pages  of  this  volume  the  fact  will  become 
apparent  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  food  of  birds 
consists  of  insects, — the  little  creatures  that  fill  the  air,  the 
water,  and  the  earth  with  life.  Adult  insects  in  general  have 
a  body  divided  into  three  parts,  called  the  head,  the  thorax, 
and  the  abdomen,  with  three  pairs  of  legs,  one  pair  of  an- 
tennae, and  usually  two  pairs  of  wings.  They  are  grouped 
together  in  certain  natural  orders,  of  which,  from  our  present 
point  of  view,  the  following  are  the  most  important. 

The  order  Orthoptera  includes  the  crickets,  grasshoppers, 
cockroaches,  locusts,  and  walking-sticks.  These  insects  have 
four  wings,  the  front  pair  being  thick  and  leathery,  and  the 
hind  pair  thin  and  membranous. 

There  are  few  groups  of  injurious  insects  that  enter  so 
largely  into  the  composition  of  the  food  of  birds  as  do  the 
locusts,  or  short-horned  grasshoppers,  of  the  family  Acridiidce. 
The  enormous  destructive  power  of  these  insects  is  well 
known,  but  our  indebtedness  to  birds  in  checking  their  oscil- 
lations is  less  generally  recognized.  No  more  convincing 
proof  of  the  latter,  however,  could  be  required  than  Professor 
Samuel  Aughey's  records  of  the  food  of  birds  in  Nebraska 
during  outbreaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust, — records 
which  show  that  birds  of  all  sizes  and  kinds  turned  their  at- 
tention to  reducing  the  ranks  of  the  invaders.  Similar  results 
may  be  seen  in  many  portions  of  the  United  States  whenever 
the  local  non-migratory  species  of  locusts  become  unusually 
abundant.  The  life- history  of  these  insects  is  simple :  the 
eggs  are  deposited  late  in  summer  or  early  in  autumn  a  little 
below  the  surface  of  the  soil ;  Hie  following  spring  they  hatch 
42 


THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


f 

THE    ANIMAL   FOOD    OF   BIRDS. 


43 


into  young,  which  resemble  in  a  general  way  the  adults. 
These  young  'hoppers  feed  upon  grass,  clover,  and  similar 
plants,  increasing  gradually  in  size  arid  occasionally  shedding 
their  skins.  In  the  course  of  about  two  months  they  acquire 
wings  and  become  full  grown.  The  Rocky  Mountain  locusts 
develop  normally  on  the  high,  dry  table-lands  of  the  Rockies 
and  occasionally  migrate  in  vast  numbers  to  the  fertile  fields 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  red-legged  locust  is  the  most 
abundant  of  the  widely  dis- 
tributed species  of  this  family. 
These  insects  form  a  large 
part  of  the  food  of  nestling 
birds  as  well  as  of  the  adults. 

The  family  Locustidce,  which 
includes  the  long-horned  grass- 
hoppers and  katydids,  is  at 
once  distinguished  from  the 
Acridiidce  by  the  very  long  an- 
tennae. These  insects  are  also 
of  much  less  economic  impor- 
tance, but  some  species  occa- 
sionally become  seriously  injurious.  They  are  often  preyed 
upon  by  birds,  both  in  the  egg  and  mature  states,  the  latter  fre- 
quently being  fed  to  nestlings,  and  with  some  species  of  birds 
they  form  a  comparatively  important  element  of  food. 

The  crickets,  belonging  to  the  family  Gryttidce^  are  abundant 
everywhere  in  fields  and  meadows,  and  probably  do  consider- 
ably more  damage  than  they  are  usually  accused  of.  In  the 
Northern  States  the  common  black  species  usually  winters 
over  in  the  condition  of  the  egg,  although  a  few  manage  to 
come  through  in  a  partially  grown  state.  Their  eggs  are 
deposited  in  the  ground  by  means  of  the  long  pointed  ovi- 
positor of  the  female.  The  climbing  or  tree  crickets  of  the 
genus  (Ecanthus  are  perhaps  the  most  injurious  members  of 
the  family.  They  deposit  their  eggs  in  the  canes  of  the  rasp- 


<TA(iES  OF  THE   ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  I-OCUST. 
(After  KiJeij.) 


44  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

berries  and  in  the  twigs  of  various  fruit-  and  shade-trees, 
making  longitudinal  slits  that  cause  the  death  of  the  cane  or 
twig.  The  adult  tree-crickets  feed  to  a  considerable  extent 
upon  aphides,  and  so  are  by  no  means  an  unmixed  evil. 
They  are  occasionally  eaten  by  birds. 

The  most  destructive  species  of  the  Hemiptera,  or  half- 
winged  insects,  is  the  chinch-bug,  a  pest  that  often  causes 
losses  amounting  to  millions  of  dollars  in  a  single  State  and  a 
single  season.  The  adult  is  a  blackish  insect,  slightly  less  than 
one-fifth  of  an  inch  long,  with  the  legs  dark  yellow  and  their 
tips  black.  The  young  do  not  differ  from  the  adult  in  general 
form.  When  first  hatched  they  are  pale  yellow,  but  they 
soon  become  red;  this  continues  to  be  the  prevailing  color 
until  the  pupa  or  last  nymph  stage  is  reached ;  the  insect  is 
then  grayish  or  brownish  black.  The  eggs  are  small  and 
amber-colored.  These  pests  attack  corn 
and  small  grains  in  enormous  numbers, 
sucking  out  the  sap  and  thus  weakening 
or  destroying  the  plants. 

The  chinch-bug  is  the  type  of  a  large 
group  of  the  true  bugs  called  the  Heter- 
optera,  another  typical  example  of  which 
is   the   tarnished    plant-bug,    illustrated 
herewith.       There   are   many   different 
Magnified.    (After  GO™™.)     families  in  this  suborder,  a  large  propor- 
tion of  which  are  protected  from  being 
eaten  by  birds  by  their  disagreeable  odor,  which  is  doubtless 
the  accompaniment  of  an  equally  disagreeable  taste. 

The  other  suborder  of  the  Hemiptera — called  the  Homop- 
tera — includes  several  important  families  of  noxious  insects, 
the  members  of  which,  fortunately,  enter  largely  into  the  food 
of  birds.  The  most  notable  of  these  families  are  those  of  the 
leaf-hoppers  and  the  plant-lice. 

The  leaf-hoppers  of  the  family  Jassidce  are  very  often 
found  in  the  stomachs  of  birds.  These  insects  are  .small 


TARNISHED  PLANT-BUG. 


ROSE  LEAF-HOPPER. 


THE   ANIMAL   FOOD    OF   BIRDS.  45 

creatures  with  elongate-oval  bodies  and  hind  legs  fitted  for 
jumping.  An  idea  of  their  appearance  may  be  obtained  from 
the  accompanying  picture,  which  represents  the  well-known 
rose  leaf-hopper.  The  adult  of  this*  species  is  about  one-tenth 
of  an  inch  long,  with  a  yellowish-white 
body  and  white  semi-transparent  wing- 
covers.  It  injures  the  rose-leaves  by  suck- 
ing out  the  cell  contents,  giving  the  upper 
surface  a  white-spotted  appearance.  One 
or  more  members  of  this  family  live  upon 
a  large  proportion  of  the  flowering  plants, 
both  wild  and  cultivated,  and  often  do 
serious  damage. 

None  of  the  true  bugs  are  so  constantly 
and  generally  injurious  as  the  plant-lice,  or 
aphides,  which  form  the  family  ApJiididce.  Magnified. 

The  common  "  green  fly"  of  house  plants 
is  an  example  of  this  group,  and  nearly  every  cultivated  crop 
is  subject  to  the  attack  of  one  or  more  species.  The  normal 
life-history  of  these  little  creatures  may  be  briefly  outlined  in 
this  way :  In  the  spring  there  hatches  from  an  egg  deposited 
the  autumn  previous  a  little  plant-louse  that  sucks  the  sap  of 
its  food-plant  for  a  number  of  days — sometimes  for  a  fort- 
night— before  it  becomes  fully  grown.  During  this  period  of 
growth  it  moults,  or  sheds  its  skin,  a  number  of  times,  to 
provide  for  its  rapidly  increasing  size.  This  plant-louse, 
which  developed  from  the  egg,  is  often  called  the  "  stern- 
mother:1'  she  is  always  wingless.  Soon  after  reaching  ma- 
turity she  commences  to  give  birth  to  living  young,  con- 
tinuing the  process  for  several  days.  These  young  resemble 
the  stem-mother  in  general  appearance,  being,  of  course, 
much  smaller.  Each  soon  begins  sucking  sap  on  her  own 
account,  and  in  the  course  of  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  be- 
comes mature  arid  commences  to  bring  other  living  aphides 
into  the  world ;  the  latter  soon  mature  and  give  birth  to  a 


46 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 


AN  APHID,  MAGNIFIED,   AND  ITS  EGGS   ABOUT   BUDS. 


third  generation.  All  of  these  early  broods  are  what  are 
called  parthenogenetic  females,  giving  birth  to  living  young 
without  the  presence  of  any  males.  Many  of  these  plant-lice 
are  provided  with  wings,  but  the  majority  are  wingless.  This 
process  of  reproduction  is  continued  throughout  the  warm 

season,  but  on  the  ap- 
proach of  cold  weather 
a  true  sexual  genera- 
tion is  produced,  the 
males  of  which  may  be 
either  winged  or  wing- 
less, while  the  females 
are  always  wingless. 
By  union  of  these  two 
forms  the  true  winter 
eggs  are  produced  :  the 
eggs  are  generally  deposited  upon  the  branches  of  trees  or 
other  plants ;  they  pass  through  the  winter  and  in  spring 
hatch  into  stem-mothers  which  renew  the  cycle  of  existence. 
Many  of  the  smaller  birds,  such  as  the  warblers,  nut- 
hatches, kinglets,  and  chickadees,  appear  to  feed  largely  upon 
aphides  and  their  eggs.  These  insects  are  only  rarely  found 
in  the  stomachs  of  larger  birds,  like  the  robin,  cat-bird,  and 
the  various  thrushes.  A  large  part  of  the  winter  food  of  the 
chickadee  consists  of  the  eggs  of  aphides. 

The  moths  and  butterflies  form  the  order  Lepidoptera,  or 
scaly-winged  insects.  Under  the  microscope  their  Avings  are 
shown  to  be  covered  with  minute  scales  which  overlap  one 
another.  The  adults  are  very  different  from  the  larvae,  and 
in  consequence  these  insects  are  said  to  undergo  complete 
transformations.  The  three  later  stages  of  the  common  cat- 
erpillar which  infests  cabbages — the  cabbage- worm — are  rep- 
resented in  the  picture  herewith.  The  female  butterflies 
deposit  their  pale  greenish-yellow  eggs,  singly  or  in  clusters, 
on  the  leaves ;  the  larvae  soon  hatch  and  feed  upon  the  sur- 


THE   ANIMAL  FOOD    OF    BIRDS. 


47 


THE  CABBAGE  BUTTERFLY, 
a,  larva  ;  b,  chrysalis;  c,  d,  butterfly. 


48 


BIRDS    IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


face  of  the  cabbage,  eating  more  and  more  as  they  develop. 
When  fully  grown  each  spins  a  slight  silken  loop  on  the 
cabbage-leaf  or  some  near-by  shelter,  generally  on  the  lower 
surface,  and  changes  to  a  pupa  or  chrysalis.  In  a  short  time 
it  emerges  as  a  butterfly. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  caterpillars  of  the  Lepidoptera 
are  eagerly  devoured  by  birds,  forming  an  important  element 
oft  the  food  of  many  species.  Mention  can  be  made  here  of 
only  a  few  of  the  more  important  families. 

There  is  a  large  family  of  small  moths  called  Tortricidce,  the 

larval  of  which  are  com- 
monly known  as  "  leaf- 
rollers."  The  normal 
habit  of  these  little  cater- 
pillars is  to  feed  upon  the 
surfaces  of  leaves  which 
they  roll  into  a  protective 
covering ;  sometimes  they 
live  singly  and  sometimes 
a  number  live  together  in 
a  common  nest.  Insects 
of  this  family  attack  the 
leaves  of  nearly  all  our 
fruit  and  ornamental  trees, 
although,  fortunately,  they 
generally  do  little  damage. 
Some  species  are  not  con- 
tent with  the  foliage,  but 
feed  upon  the  fruit ;  the 
too  well-known  codling- 
moth,  or  apple-worm,  is 
an  example  of  this  group. 

The  larvae,  pupae,  and  moths  of  the  leaf-roller  family  are  all 
eagerly  devoured  by  birds,  but  these  insects  are  greatly  pro- 
tected by  their  habits  and  colors,  so  that  probably  birds  do 


MINE  OF  APPLE  LEAF-MINER. 


THE    ANIMAL    FOOD    OF    BIRDS.  49 

not  affect  them  so  seriously  as  they  do  the  insects  of  many 
other  groups. 

The  leaf-miners  differ  from  the  leaf-rollers  in  that  the  larvae 
live  within  the  tissues  of  the  leaf,  as  in  the  case  of  the  apple 
leaf-miner  illustrated  on  the  opposite  page. 

The  families  of  looping  or  measuring  caterpillars — Geome- 
tridce  and  its  allies — are  of  special  interest  from  an  ornitho- 
logical point  of  view  because  they  contain  many  species  which 
in  their  larval  state  so  closely  resemble  small  twigs  that  they 
easily  escape  the  notice  of  birds.  A  few  species,  like  the 
canker-worm,  are  of  much  economic  importance  on  account 
of  their  injuries  to  the  foliage  of  fruit  and  shade  trees.  Such 
species,  as  a  rule,  are  less  perfectly  protected  in  their  resem- 
blance to  twigs  than  others,  and  when  abundant  are  freely 
eaten  by  birds.  The  moths  of  these  families  have  slender 
bodies  and  comparatively  large  wings,  although  sometimes  the 
females  are  wingless. 

The  great  family  of  night-flying  or  owlet  moths — called  by 
entomologists  Noctuidce — 
includes  a  large  number  of 
the  most  injurious  insects. 
The  boll-worm  of  cotton, 
the  army-worm,  and  the 
various  cut- worms,  all  be- 
long here.  The  cut-worms 
are  rather  thick,  naked 
worms  which  hatch  from 

THE   ARMY-WORM. 
eggS  laid  by  medium-Sized  (From  New  York  Experiment  Station.) 

moths.   Most  of  them  feed 

upon  grass  or  clover  when  young,  becoming  half  grown  before 
winter.  They  hibernate  beneath  some  shelter  and  in  spring 
come  forth  in  search  of  food,  attacking  a  variety  of  young  plants 
by  biting  off  the  stems  and  feeding  on  the  leaves.  They  become 
full  grown  during  spring  or  early  summer,  pupate  beneath  the 
soil  surface,  and  a  fortnight  or  more  later  emerge  as  moths. 

4 


50 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


Fortunately,  cut-worms  and  their  allies  form  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  food  of  many  birds.  They  are  especially  used 
by  the  old  birds  for  feeding  the  nestlings. 

The  families  of  silk-spinning  moths  and  their  allies — for- 
merly included  under  the  Bombycidae,  but  now  subdivided 

into  many  groups — include  a 
number  of  the  most  injurious 
insects  affecting  fruit  and  shade 
trees.  The  larvae  of  this  group 
are  hairy  caterpillars  which 
feed  upon  leaves,  and  when 
full  grown  spin  silken  cocoons 
for  protection  in  the  pupa  state. 
The  tent  caterpillar  of  the  apple 
and  wild  cherry,  the  fall  web- 
worm,  the  tussock-caterpillar, 
and  many  similar  insects  be- 
long here.  One  of  the  most 
notably  destructive  members 
of  the  group  is  the  gypsy 
moth,  recently  so  prominent 
before  the  public  in  Massachu- 
setts. The  two  sexes  of  the 
adult  moth  in  this  species  dif- 
fer greatly :  the  general  color 

of  the  male  is  brownish  and  of  the  female  whitish.  The  eggs 
are  laid  in  bunches  in  a  great  variety  of  situations,  and  the 
resulting  larva?  feed  upon  the  foliage  of  nearly  every  kind  of 
tree  and  shrub. 

Comparatively  few  birds  attack  the  hairy  caterpillars  of  this 
group,  but  some — as  the  cuckoos  and  blue-jays — devour  them 
eagerly.  The  European  cuckoo  is  said  to  regurgitate  the  mass  of 
skins  thus  swallowed ;  probably  our  species  have  a  similar  habit. 
The  larger  bombycid  caterpillars — like  those  of  the  cecropia 
and  polyphemus  moths — are  eaten  by  some  of  the  hawks. 


TENT  CATERPILLAR'S  NEST  RAIDED  BY 
BIRDS. 


THE    ANIMAL   FOOD    OF    BIRDS. 


51 


The  highest  group  of  the  Lepidoptera  includes  the  familiar 
butterflies.  In  their  earlier  stages  they  are  caterpillars,  many 
of  which  form  a  portion  of  the  diet  of  birds. 

Many  of  the  larger  butterfly  larvae  seem  to  be  protected 
from  the  attacks  of  birds  by  a  disagreeable  taste  or  smell. 
The  caterpillars  of  the  beautiful  papilios  have  a  peculiar  pair 
of  yellow  or  orange-colored  Y-shaped  organs  concealed  just 
back  of  the  head.  When  the  larva  is  irritated  these  are  thrust 
out;  they  emit  a  very  disagreeable  odor  and  are  supposed 


A   CRANE-FLY. 


to  be  useful  as  a  means  of  protection  from  birds  and  other 
animals. 

The   order   of  two-winged   flies — Diptera — contains  com- 
paratively few  families  of  injurious  insects.     The  species  most 


52  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

destructive  to  cultivated  crops  appears  to  be  the  little  Hessian 
fly  (Cecidomyia  destructor),  often  so  serious  an  enemy  to  wheat. 
The  adult  is  a  small  gnat-like  creature  whose  eggs  are  de- 
posited on  the  blades  of  growing  wheat,  the  resulting  larvre 
absorbing  the  sap  of  the  plant  and  dwarfing  or  destroying  it. 
Closely  related  species  attack  the  heads  of  clover  and  of 
wheat.  There  is  no  doubt  that  great  numbers  of  these  flies 
are  devoured  by  swallows,  swifts,  and  nighthawks  during  the 
aerial  evolutions  of  these  birds. 

The  long-legged  crane-flies  of  the  family  Tipulidce  are  often 
found  in  birds'  stomachs.  The  adults  of  these  insects  appear 
in  spring,  often  in  great  numbers,  and  deposit  their  eggs  in 
grass-lands.  A  short  time  later  the  eggs  hatch  into  small, 
blackish,  footless  grubs,  that  feed  upon  grass-roots  and  decay- 
ing vegetable  matter.  When  full  grown  they  are  about  an 
inch  long  and  of  a  grayish-black  color.  They  now  change 
to  pupae,  to  emerge  as  adult  flies  a  fortnight  later.  The  larvre 
sometimes  do  serious  injury  to  meadows. 

The  Coleoptera,  or  sheath-winged  insects,  form  the  immense 
order  which  includes  the  beetles.  The  front  wings  are  hard- 
ened into  horny  cases  which  cover  and  protect  the  membranous 
second  pair,  the  mouth  parts  are  formed  for  biting,  and  the 
transformations  are  complete.  In  the  larval  state  the  beetles 
are  commonly  called  grubs.  A  typical  example  of  a  beetle  is 
illustrated  on  the  opposite  page.  Many  beetles  are  destructive 
to  vegetation,  a  few  live  on  decaying  organic  matter,  and  some 
prey  upon  other  insects. 

The  tiger-beetles  form  a  distinct  family  (OieindeKdce),  the 
members  of  which  devour  many  other  insects,  being  pre- 
daceous  in  both  the  larval  and  adult  states.  These  beetles 
are  often  brightly  colored  and  marked  with  distinct  spots. 
They  are  abundant  in  sandy  situations  and  may  be  seen 
commonly  along  lanes  and  roads  or  by  the  sides  of  streams. 
Many  of  them  are  eaten  by  certain  kinds  of  birds. 

The  ground-beetles  of  the  family   Carabidce  form  an  im- 


THE  ANIMAL   FOOD   OF   BIRDS. 


53 


portant  element  in  the  food  of  many  birds,  especially  the 
thrushes  and  their  allies.  These  beetles  vary  much  in  their 
habits  :  some  of  them — especially  those  belonging  to  the 
genus  Harpalus  and  others  related  to  it — feed  largely  upon 
vegetation  of  various  kinds,  while  others — particularly  those 
of  the  genus  Calosoma  and  its  allies — are  strictly  carnivorous, 
being  excellent  examples  of  predaceous  beetles.  The  vege- 
tivorous  group  enter  most  largely  into 
the  food  of  birds.  Many  of  the  carnivo- 
rous ones  are  so  protected  by  offensive 
taste  or  odor  that  they  are  not  eaten  at 
all.  Some  of  the  larger  ground-beetles 
are  called  "  caterpillar  hunters,"  be- 
cause they  prey  upon  cutworms,  canker- 
worms,  and  various  other  caterpillars. 

The  lady-beetles,  or  "  lady-birds,"  of 
the  family  Coccincllidce,  are  extremely 
useful  as  destroyers  of  plant-lice  and 
other  insects.  Fortunately,  they  appear 
to  be  distasteful  to  birds,  as  they  are 
very  seldom  eaten  by  them. 

The  hard,  cylindrical,  yellow  worms 
frequently  found  in  the  soil  of  meadows 
and  grain  fields  and  commonly  called 
"wire-worms"  are  the  larvae  of  the 
click  or  snapping  beetles  of  the  family  Elater'ulce.  These  larvae 
feed  upon  the  roots  of  plants  and  sometimes  do  serious  dam- 
age to  young  corn  and  wheat.  They  are  extremely  difficult 
to  combat  by  artificial  means ;  hence  we  are  glad  to  know 
that  both  the  larvae  and  adults  are  fed  upon  to  a  considerable 
extent  by  various  birds. 

In  the  great  family  of  leaf-beetles — the  Chrysomelidce — 
which  is  said  to  include  more  than  ten  thousand  described 
species,  we  find  many  insects  which  are  destructive  to  culti- 
vated crops.  The  most  notorious  American  member  of  the 


TIGER- BEETLE. 
Magnified.     ( From  Imeci  Life. ) 


54 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


CLICK-BEETLE  AND  LARVA. 
(After  Bruner.) 


family  is  the  Colorado  potato-beetle,  but  there  are  many 
others,  such  as  the  corn-root  worm,  the  various  flea-beetles, 
the  striped  cucumber-beetle,  and  the  asparagus-beetle,  which 
are  almost  equally  injurious.  The  larvae  of  this  group  vary 

much  in  appearance  and  life-history : 
some  live  exposed  on  leaves,  others 
are  leaf-miners,  and  others  live  on 
roots  and  under  ground.  Most  of  the 
larvae  are  protected  in  some  way  from 
the  attacks  of  birds,  which  apparently 
devour  many  more  of  the  adult  bee- 
tles than  of  the  larvae. 

The  common  May-beetle,  or  "June- 
bug,"  belongs  to  a  family — Scarabceicke 
— which  contains  many  other  well- 
known  depredators.  This  insect  is 
developed  from  the  white  grub,  or 
"grub-worm,"  so  often  found  in  pasture  and  meadow  land. 
The  rose-beetle,  or  "  rose-bug,"  is  one  of  the  others :  the 
adult  is  a  hard,  brown  insect  that  feeds  upon  the  foliage, 
flowers,  or  fruit  of  a  great  variety  of  plants.  Its  eggs  are 
deposited  in  light  sandy  soil  and  the  larvae  feed  upon  roots. 
When  fully  grown  they  change  to  pupae  and  later  emerge 
as  adult  beetles.  Grubs  like  these  are  eagerly  devoured  by 
robins,  blackbirds,  crows,  and  others  ;  these  natural  enemies 
aid  greatly  in  checking  the  ravages  of  such  pests. 

A  large  number  of  injurious  insects  are  found  among  the 
snout-beetles  of  the  family  Curculionidce  and  certain  related 
families  grouped  together  in  a  suborder  called  Rhyncophora. 
The  plum  and  apple  curculios,  the  bean  and  pea  weevils,  the 
various  grain  weevils,  the  corn  "bill-bug,"  the  white-pine 
borer,  and  many  other  pests  belong  here.  The  larvae  of  these 
insects  are  usually  footless  grubs  and  feed  upon  a  variety  of 
materials.  The  adult  beetles  have  a  habit  when  disturbed  of 
dropping  to  the  ground,  drawing  the  legs  against  the  body, 


THE    ANIMAL  FOOD    OF    BIRDS.  55 

and  remaining  quiet  for  some  time.  Many  of  them  resemble 
particles  of  rubbish  of  such  various  sorts  as  commonly  occur 
at  the  soil  surface.  This  means  of  escaping  observation 
doubtless  saves  some  of  them  from  the  attacks  of  birds,  but 
nevertheless  a  considerable  number  are  eaten  by  our  feath- 
ered allies.  The  salient  features  in  the  life-history  of  the 
family  may  be  gathered  from  that  of  the  plum-curculio.  The 
adult  beetles  deposit  eggs  in  the  young  plums  and  the  result- 
ing grubs  feed  upon  the  pulp  of  the  fruit.  They  become  full 
grown  in  a  few  weeks,  the  plums  fall  to  the  ground,  and  the 
grubs  enter  it  to  pupate,  emerging  later  as  beetles. 

The  ants,  bees,  wasps,  sawflies,  and  various  four-winged 
parasites  form  the  order  Hymenoptera.  The  jaws  of  these 
insects  are  fitted  for  biting  and  the  remaining  mouth  parts 
for  sucking.  The  transformations  are  complete,  and  the 
adults,  with  few  exceptions,  have  two  pairs  of  membranous 
wings  with  few  veins.  This  order  includes  some  highly  bene- 
ficial as  well  as  some  extremely  injurious  species. 

Few  families  of  insects  enter  more  largely  into  the  food  of 
birds  than  that  of  the  ants  (Formicidce).  Being  abundant 
in  all  sorts  of  situations,  it  is  not  strange  that  woodpeckers, 
cat-birds,  and  various  other  species  of  birds  have  learned  to 
rely  upon  them  for  much  of  their  food.  Some  people  class 
ants  among  the  beneficial  insects,  but,  while  they  are  doubt- 
less useful  in  certain  ways,  it  seems  to  us  that  there  can  be 
no  question  that  birds  which  eat  them  should  receive  credit 
rather  than  blame  for  so  doing.  The  ants  are  so  abundant 
and  multiply  so  rapidly  that  were  there  no  check  upon  their 
increase  they  would  be  likely  to  become  very  troublesome,  as 
indeed  they  now  are  in  many  localities. 

Probably  the  most  important  group  of  parasitic  insects  is 
that  comprising  the  ichneumon-flies  of  the  families  Braconidce 
and  Ichneumonidce  of  modern  entomologists.  These  little 
creatures  vary  greatly  in  life-habits,  but  a  large  proportion 
of  them  are  primary  parasites  of  injurious  insects.  The 


56  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

adults  are  four-winged  flies  with  slender  bodies  and  long 
antennae,  and  the  larvae  are  soft,  fleshy  grubs.  In  many 
species  the  females  have  long  egg-depositors,  by  which  they 

can  reach  caterpillars  hid- 
den in  trunks  of  trees  or 
stems  of  herbaceous  plants. 
The  eggs  are  usually  de- 
posited either  on  or  in  the 
body  of  the  larva  selected 

SPHINX  LARVA  WITH   COCOONS    OP    PARASITE ;          aS     tllC      Victim  I       they       SOO11 

ADULT  PAEASITE  AT  EIOHT-  hatch  into  grabs  that  de- 

Natural  size  and  magnified.     (After  Riley.) 

velop  at  the  expense  of  the 

tissues  of  the  host.  Some  of  the  ichneumon-fly  larvae  are 
internal  parasites,  living  beneath  the  caterpillar's  skin,  while 
others  attach  themselves  externally.  In  either  case  the  host 
insect  is  doomed :  it  may  be  killed  long  before  it  gets  its  full 
larval  growth,  or  it  may  be  allowed  to  complete  that  growth 
and  spin  a  cocoon,  but  sooner  or  later  the  parasites — like  the 
fox  in  the  fable — will  gnaw  away  its  vitals.  When  the  ichneu- 
mon larvae  become  fully  grown,  they  generally  spin  slight  silken 
cocoons,  within  which  they  change  to  pupae,  to  emerge  later 
as  adult  flies. 

There  is  a  group  of  ichneumon-flies,  commonly  called 
Microgasters,  which  spin  their  cocoons  on  the  back  and  sides 
of  the  larvae  of  butterflies  and  moths,  giving  the  host  a  most 
singular  appearance.  A  specimen  of  a  common  sphinx  larva 
bearing  these  cocoons  is  represented  above. 

Ichneumon-flies  are  eaten  to  a  considerable  extent  by  many 
birds,  especially  the  flycatchers.  The  fact  that  a  bird  may 
eat  a  certain  number  of  insects  of  this  sort  without  necessa- 
rily doing  any  injury  to  agriculture  is  indicated  in  the  discussion 
of  the  relations  of  vegetivorous  and  carnivorous  insects  in 
Chapter  VI. 

Besides  the  insects  proper  there  are  many  animals  that  are 
eaten  by  birds.  The  spiders  are  the  most  important  of  these. 


THE   ANIMAL    FOOD    OF   BIRDS. 


57 


Spiders  have  eight  legs,  with  a  body  divided  into  two  principal 
parts,  and  are  predaceous  creatures  which  feed  largely  upon 
insects.  They  are  found  in  all  sorts  of  places  and  during  all 
seasons  of  the  year.  They  enter  very  largely  into  the  dietary 
of  the  smaller  birds,  being  especially  fed  to  the  nestlings,  and 
their  surprising  rate  of  reproduction  seems  to  have  been  de- 
veloped, in  part  at  least,  to  meet  this  constant  drain  upon 
their  numbers. 

The  harvest-spiders,  harvest-men,  daddy-long-legs,  or  grab- 
for-gray-bears,  as  they  are  variously  known  in  different  parts  of 


A   HARVEST-SPIDER. 


the  United  States,  form  a  distinctive  family, — Phalangiidce, — 
distinguished  by  having  the  three  divisions  of  the  body — head, 
thorax,  and  abdomen — closely  united,  and  four  pairs  of  very 
long  legs.  A  common  species  is  pictured  above.  These 


58  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

harvest-spiders  are  predaceous  creatures,  feeding  especially  on 
the  aphides,  or  plant-lice,  as  well  as  upon  dead  insects.  Most 
of  them  move  about  at  dusk,  rather  than  during  the  day.  Not- 
withstanding the  disagreeable  odor  given  off  by  them  when 
handled,  they  are  occasionally  found  in  birds'  stomachs. 

The  common  "thousand-legged  worms1'  form  a  subclass 
of  animals  known  to  naturalists  as  Myriapoda, — the  many- 
footed.  They  abound  under  logs  and  rubbish  or  amid  the 
fallen  leaves  of  the  forest,  where  they  are  often  picked  up  by 
robins  or  other  thrushes.  Some  Myriapods,  of  which  the 
common  lulus  is  an  example,  feed  upon  vegetable  matter, 
and  are  occasionally  destructive  to  strawberries  by  eating  the 
pulp  of  the  fruit.  Others  are  predaceous  ;  but  very  little  is 
known  precisely  concerning  the  food  habits  of  these ;  conse- 
quently their  economic  status  is  ill  defined.  From  their  gen- 
eral habits  wre  are  led  to  think  that  their  value  may  easily  be 
over-estimated  and  that  we  need  not  regret  their  occasional 
destruction  by  birds. 

In  addition  to  insects  and  their  allies,  birds  feed  upon  many 
higher  animals.  Fishes  are  taken  habitually  by  kingfishers, 
ospreys,  the  wading  birds,  and  some  of  the  owls.  Frogs, 
lizards,  and  snakes  are  eagerly  devoured  by  hawks,  owls,  and 
other  raptorial  birds,  as  well  as  by  some  of  the  waders  and 
various  other  species.  The  mice,  moles,  shrews,  gophers, 
ground-squirrels,  and  other  small  rodents  also  form  a  large 
part  of  the  food  of  the  birds  of  prey  as  well  as  of  many  other 
species,  while  the  smaller  birds  themselves  furnish  consider- 
able subsistence  for  their  larger  relatives. 


Photographed  from  life  by  Dr.  B.  W.  Shufeldt. 

AMERICAN   LONG-EARED   OWL. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE    AMOUNT    OF    FOOD    CONSUMED    BY    BIRDS. 

BIRDS  as  a  class  are  the  most  active  members  of  the  ani- 
mal kingdom.  They  have  rapid  circulation  and  respiration; 
are  constantly  on  the  alert  during  all  seasons  of  the  year; 
travel  long  distances  in  migrating  or  searching  for  food  ;  rear 
large  families,  often  two  or  more  broods  in  a  summer  ;  and,  in 
short,  perform  for  their  size  a  prodigious  amount  of  work. 
Because  of  this,  one  would  expect  them  to  require  a  large 
amount  of  food  to  keep  up  the  energy  they  are  so  constantly 
expending,  and  the  studies  that  have  so  far  been  made  show 
that  such  is  emphatically  the  case. 

Unfortunately,  the  problem  of  ascertaining  just  how  much 
food  wild  birds  need  presents  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
its  solution.  So  long  as  birds  are  at  liberty,  evidence  must 
always  be  fragmentary  and  often  uncertain.  When  they  are 
kept  in  captivity,  natural  conditions  are  upset :  the  worry  of 
confinement,  the  lack  of  exercise,  and  a  changed  diet  are  fac- 
tors of  more  or  less  importance ;  we  can  scarcely  say  how 
much.  With  nestlings  the  matter  is  simpler,  though  much 
time  and  patience  and  common  sense  are  necessary  in  order 
to  obtain  creditable  results. 

Thus,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  in  the  whole  mass  of 
ornithological  literature — which  latterly  has  increased  to  very 
respectable  proportions — there  is  a  striking  paucity  in  this 
line.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  gap  will  not  be  allowed  to 
exist  very  much  longer,  as  reliable  data  on  the  amount  of  food 
consumed  is  in  economic  importance  second  only  to  the  kind 
consumed.  Although  information  is  scarce,  yet  there  is 
enough  to  demonstrate  that  the  quantity  of  food  eaten  by 
birds  is  relatively  much  greater  than  that  consumed  by  any 
other  class  of  vertebrates. 

59 


60  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

Sixteen  canaries  mentioned  by  Dr.  Stanley  l  ate  one  hun- 
dred grains  of  food  per  day,  about  one-sixth  of  their  own 
weight.  "  A  gull  kept  and  fed  in  a  garden  devoured  in  one 
day  fourteen  mice  and  two  rats.  Another  was  seen  to  swal- 
low an  entire  rat,  an  operation,  however,  not  accomplished 
without  some  difficulty,  the  bird  making  several  efforts  before 
it  succeeded,  and  even  then  the  tail  remained  visible  for  sev- 
eral minutes." 2 

In  The  American  Naturalist  for  July,  1899,  Dr.  Thomas  H. 
Montgomery,  Jr.,  gave  some  valuable  data  concerning  the  food 
of  owls,  based  on  a  study  of  food  pellets  regurgitated  at  roosts. 
In  the  winter  of  1898-99  four  long-eared  owls  took  residence 
in  an  arbor-vitae  tree  on  Dr.  Montgomery's  grounds  at  West 
Chester,  Pennsylvania,  and  from  December  25  till  February 
22  were  under  his  observation.  Pellets  were  gathered  weekly 
and  analyzed.  In  the  fifty-nine  days  the  pellets  from  beneath 
this  one  tree  yielded  remains  of  two  birds,  one  shrew  (Bla- 
rina),  one  common  mouse  (Mus),  and  three  hundred  and 
forty-five  field-mice  (Microtus).  Under  a  Norway  spruce  near 
by,  where  a  short-eared  owl  roosted  regularly  and  one  of  the 
long-eared  occasionally,  were  found  between  February  26 
and  March  26,  twenty-eight  days,  evidence  of  one  crawfish, 
five  birds,  two  shrews,  one  jumping  mouse  (Zapm),  and  one 
hundred  and  five  field-mice.  Pellets  believed  to  have  come 
from  the  same  owls,  found  under  trees  within  a  radius  of  an 
eighth  of  a  mile,  contained  remains  of  five  birds  (Reyulus, 
Junco,  Certhia),  seven  shrews,  and  one  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  mice.  Taken  altogether  here  was  an  equivalent  of  one 
owl  for  two  hundred  and  forty-six  days,  to  which  are  credited 
twelve  small  birds,  ten  shrews,  and  six  hundred  mice,  or 
about  two  and  one-third  animals,  mainly  mice,  per  day. 

For  twenty-two  consecutive  days,  December  25- to  January 
15,  Dr.  Montgomery  counted  four  owls  in  the  arbor-vitse  tree 

1  History  of  Birds,  p.  225.  a  Id.,  p.  143. 


THE   AMOUNT    OF   FOOD   CONSUMED    BY    BIRDS.  61 

every  day.  The  pellets  taken  from  beneath  the  tree  during 
that  time  showed  parts  of  one  finch,  one  shrew,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety-nine  mice.  Dividing  201,  the  number  slain, 
by  88,  the  number  of  days  in  which  one  owl  would  consume 
the  same  amount,  we  have  2.28, — what  he  would  have  eaten 
in  one  day.  As  it  is  probable  that  more  or  less  pellets  were 
dropped  elsewhere,  we  may  readily  believe  that  the  average 
daily  consumption  deduced  from  the  whole  number  of  pellets 
is  within  the  lines  of  truth. 

An  adult  crow  that  had  been  slightly  wounded  in  the  wing 
was  once  brought  in  and  kept  alive  by  us  awhile  for  a  food 
experiment.  He  was  put  into  a  small  box,  twelve  by  thirteen 
by  twenty  inches,  and  kept  supplied  with  water,  cracked  corn, 
and  oats.  In  addition,  from  twenty  to  sixty  angle-worms 
were  given  him  each  day  for  five  days.  By  that  time  he  was 
fairly  tame  and  ate  freely  while  being  watched.  We  secured 
a  quantity  of  small  fish  (Fundulus),  which  were  abundant  in 
the  brackish  creeks,  and  offered  him  some  on  the  fifth  day. 
He  ate  thirty  grammes  of  them  that  day  in  addition  to  grain 
and  the  usual  supply  of  earthworms.  On  the  sixth  day  his 
animal  food  comprised  sixty-eight  angle-worms,  ten  shrimps, 
and  eighty-five  grammes  of  fish.  By  this  time  his  wing  was 
nearly  healed,  he  was  feeding  well  and  showed  a  relish  for 
fish,  and,  as  we  could  procure  them  in  unlimited  numbers, 
we  decided  that  the  conditions  were  right  for  the  final  test. 

On  the  morning  of  the  seventh  day  every  eatable  was  re- 
moved from  his  cage,  and  a  basin  of  water  containing  a  num- 
ber of  the  living  fish  put  in.  As  fast  as  the  fish  were  taken 
out  others  were  supplied.  For  three  days  he  ate  nothing 
else.  During  that  time  he  consumed  fourteen  and  a  half 
ounces  (avoirdupois), — making  his  daily  consumption  4.83 
ounces,  more  than  a  quarter  of  his  own  weight.  It  would 
take  over  four  hundred  grasshoppers  at  maturity  to  weigh  as 
much  as  did  his  daily  ration  of  fish.  As  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  uncaged  birds  would  eat  less  than  this  cap- 


62  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

live,  a  little  multiplying  will  show  that  a  crow  devours  an 
astonishing  amount  of  food  in  a  year. 

A  ruffed  grouse  killed  in  winter  had  in  its  crop  twelve 
leaves  of  sheep-laurel  and  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  buds 
and  bits  of  branches  from  apple  and  maple  trees.  Some  of 
the  twigs  were  half  an  inch  long.  That  was  the  morning 
meal.  It  would  have  been  duplicated  at  twilight.  The  crop 
from  another  bird  of  the  same  species  contained  over  five 
hundred  buds  and  twigs.  From  these  examples  it  appears 
that  the  daily  requirement  of  this  grouse  lies  between  eight 
hundred  and  one  thousand  buds.  At  other  seasons  of  the 
year  it  is  impossible  from  an  examination  of  its  crop  contents 
to  judge  with  any  certainty  how  much  a  grouse  eats,  as  then 
the  birds  eat  at  all  times  of  day. 

Professor  Herrick,1  in  his  study  of  the  red-winged  black- 
bird, noted  that  three  nestlings  received  food  forty  times  in 
four  hours  on  one  day,  and  forty-three  times  in  three  and  a 
half  hours  on  another  day.  Four  young  kingbirds 2  were  fed 
ninety-one  times  in  four  hours.  Two  young  red-eyed  vireos3 
took  grasshoppers,  katydids,  green  larvae,  beetles,  and  bugs  of 
many  kinds,  also  a  few  berries,  once  in  fifteen  minutes  during 
two  days  and  once  in  nine  minutes  on  the  third  day.  Four 
young  cat-birds 4  received  food  forty-six  times  in  four  hours, 
after  the  old  birds  had  become  reconciled  to  the  presence 
of  the  observer.  Five  times  in  succession  large  dragon-flies 
(JEschna  heros),  just  from  their  pupa-skins,  were  brought  in. 
Beetles,  moths,  larvae,  and  strawberries  were  among  the  items. 

A  brood  of  three  young  cedar-birds  watched  by  us  made 
an  average  gain  during  the  first  eleven  days  of  1.13  drams, 
avoirdupois,  per  bird  per  day.  Excreta,  voided  on  an  average 
of  three  per  hour,  averaged  to  weigh  one-sixth  of  a  dram 
during  the  same  period.  Reckoning  fifteen  hours  of  activity 

1  The  Home  Life  of  Wild  Birds,  p.  21. 

2  Id.,  p.  27.  3Id.,  p.  69.  Md.,  p.  78. 


THE   AMOUNT   OF   FOOD    CONSUMED    BY    BIRDS. 


63 


per  day,  the  total  amount  of  excreta  passed  by  each  bird  is 

7.5  drams.     Adding  the  daily  gain  to  the  daily  excretion  gives 

8.6  drams,  the  daily  food  during  the  eleven  days.     After  the 
eleventh  day  more  nutrition  goes  into  feathers  and  less  to 
flesh,  so  that  the  gain  in  weight  is  not  so  great  as  before ;  but 
the   excreta    continue    to 

increase  in  proportion  to 
the  bird's  development, 
and  the  parents  are  in 
constant  attendance,  so  it 
is  clear  that  there  is  at 
least  no  diminution  in 
the  food  supply  after  the 
eleventh  day.  During  the 
fifteen  days  that  the  young 
birds  spent  in  the  nest, 
they  devoured  not  less 
than  ten  ounces  apiece, 
— more  than  ten  times 
their  weight  on  the  day  of 
flight. 

Another  cedar-bird 
taken  after  it  had  left  the 
nest,  and  kept  under  sur- 
veillance but  not  confined,  took  a  good-sized  black  or  choke 
cherry  every  ten  minutes.  When  given  two,  he  invariably 
doubled  the  time  between  meals.  This  bird  was  captured 
at  night.  The  next  morning  the  character  of  its  excrement 
indicated  that  there  was  little  or  no  food  matter  in  the  diges- 
tive organs.  The  fast  was  broken  by  two  black  cherries  ;  the 
stones  were  dropped  forty-five  minutes  later.  A  blackberry 
was  digested  in  half  an  hour.  The  cherries  were  given  entire, 
and  their  large  size  evidently  delayed,  their  passage  from  the 
oesophagus  into  the  proventriculus,  for  the  bird  stretched  his 
neck  as  if  in  distress  after  they  had  been  swallowed  awhile. 


Photographed  from  life. 

CEDAR-BIRD   AT  NEST. 


64  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

Mr.  Daniel  E.  Owen  has  recorded  1  some  interesting  obser- 
vations on  the  food  of  a  young  hermit  thrush  recently  from 
the  nest.  It  ate  regularly  half  its  weight  of  raw  beefsteak 
each  day,  and  probably  would  have  taken  as  much  more  had 
it  been  fed  at  sufficiently  frequent  intervals.  Perhaps  the 
most  interesting  point  brought  out  was  a  method  of  deter- 
mining the  rapidity  of  digestion  in  young  birds.  Having 
noticed  that  the  blueberries  eaten  dyed  the  excrement,  it  oc- 
curred to  Mr.  Owen  that  "  this  fact  furnished  a  ready  method 
of  finding  the  length  of  time  required  by  the  thrush  to  digest 
blueberries.  The  test  was  made  July  26.  At  12.56  P.M.  of 
that  day,  the  bird  voided  white  excrement  and  was  fed  at 
once  with  blueberries.  At  2.28  P.M.,  one  hour  and  thirty- 
two  minutes  later,  it  dropped  blue  excrement  mingled  with 
berry  seeds.  If  this  experiment  was  trustworthy,  and  I  see 
no  reason  to  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the  method,  the  time  re- 
quired for  a  blueberry  to  traverse  the  digestive  tract  was, 
practically,  one  hour  and  a  half." 

A  brood  of  young  cedar-birds  confined  by  Mr.  Frank  Bolles2 
and  fed  by  the  old  birds  were  supplied  with  eight  thousand 
four  hundred  cherries  in  twelve  days. 

Three  robins  about  ten  days  old  observed  by  us  were  fed 
in  two  hours  one  bird-cherry  (P.  pennsylvanica),  one  large 
cricket  (Gryttus),  one  smooth  caterpillar  an  inch  and  a  half 
long,  one  moth  (Noctuid),  one  harvest-man  (Phalanyiidce), 
one  tumble-bug  (Copris),  two  earthworms  (Lumbricus),  two 
carabid  beetles,  twenty-nine  grasshoppers  (Acridiidce),  and 
eight  small  creatures  thought  to  be  spiders  but  which  could  not 
be  made  out  with  certainty.  These  forty-seven  items  were 
brought  at  thirty  visits  between  4.04  and  6.03  A.M.  During 
the  middle  of  the  day  the  old  birds  came  less  often.  Be- 
tween 10  and  10.30  there  were  four  visits,  from  1.25  to  1.51 

1  The  Auk,  vol.  xiv.  pp.  1-8. 

2  Id.,  1890,  vol.  vii.  p.  290. 


THE   AMOUNT   OF   FOOD    CONSUMED    BY    BIRDS.  65 

there  were  six,  and  from  2  to  3  there  were  six.  Ten  visits 
per  hour  was  the  average  the  day  through. 

Over  three-fourths  of  the  food  brought  consisted  of  adult 
grasshoppers,  the  great  Carolina  locust  being  often  among 
them.  Half  of  the  time  two  were  brought  at  a  visit.  Only 
a  little  calculation  is  necessary  to  show  that  each  occupant  of 
the  nest  consumed  about  eighty  insects  that  day,  of  which  at 
least  sixty  were  grasshoppers.  An  average  red-legged  locust — 
the  species  most  commonly  brought — weighs  five  grains  Troy ; 
sixty  of  them  would  weigh  three  hundred  grains,  and  adding 
the  twenty-five  per  cent,  consisting  of  worms,  beetles,  berries, 
etc.,  we  have  four  hundred  grains  as  the  weight  consumed  by 
each  nestling  on  that  particular  day.  They  were  then  about 
ten  days  old ;  their  average  weight  was  seven  hundred  and 
eleven  grains.  Thus  it  appears  that  they  ate  per  diem  more 
than  half  their  own  weight. 

Mr.  Charles  W.  Nash *  gives  this  experience  with  the  food 
of  a  young  robin  :  "  In  May,  1889,  I  noticed  a  pair  of  robins 
digging  out  cutworms  in  my  garden,  which  was  infested  with 
them,  and  saw  they  were  carrying  them  to  their  nest  in  a  tree 
close  by.  On  the  21st  of  that  month  I  found  one  of  the 
young  on  the  ground,  it  having  fallen  out  of  the  nest,  and  in 
order  to  see  how  much  insect  food  it  required  daily  I  took  it 
to  my  house  and  raised  it  by  hand.  Up  to  the  6th  of  June  it 
had  eaten  from  fifty  to  seventy  cutworms  and  earthworms 
every  day.  On  the  9th  of  June  I  weighed  the  bird ;  its 
weight  was  exactly  three  ounces ;  arid  then  I  tried  how  much 
it  would  eat,  it  being  now  quite  able  to  feed  itself.  With  the 
assistance  of  my  children  I  gathered  a  large  number  of  cut- 
worms and  gave  them  to  the  robin  after  weighing  them.  In 
the  course  of  that  day  it  ate  just  five  and  one-half  ounces  of 
cutworms.  These  grubs  averaged  thirty  to  the  ounce,  so  the 
young  robin  ate  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  cutworms  in  one 

1  Birds  of  Ontario,  p.  22. 
5 


66  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

day.  Had  it  been  at  liberty  it  would  probably  have  eaten 
some  insects  of  other  species  and  fewer  cutworms,  but  this 
shows  about  what  each  young  robin  requires  for  its  main- 
tenance when  growing ;  the  adult  birds  require  much  less,  of 
course.  The  average  number  of  young  raised  by  a  robin  is 
four,  and  there  are  usually  two  broods  in  the  season.  A  very 
simple  calculation  will  give  a  good  idea  of  the  number  of 
insects  destroyed  while  the  young  are  in  the  nest." 

Five  young  goldfinches  which  we  watched  were  from  the 
beginning  fed  by  their  parents  almost  exclusively  upon  seeds 
of  the  bull-thistle  (Cnicus  pumilus,  Torr.).  At  the  age  of  one 
week  rather  more  than  the  product  of  one  thistle-head  was 
divided  among  them  at  each  meal.  They  were  fed  every 
half-hour  on  an  average,  the  old  birds  feeding  independently. 
Not  less  than  thirty  thistle-heads  were  thus  consumed  in  a 
day  by  these  young  birds  when  they  were  scarcely  more  than 
half-grown. 

A  family  of  four  song-sparrows  seven  days  old  received 
seventeen  grasshopper  nymphs,  from  five-eighths  to  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  long,  and  two  spiders  between  1.55  and 
3.02  P.M. — sixty-seven  minutes.  As  they  were  out  of  the 
nest  the  next  day,  it  may  be  accepted  that  they  are  hearty 
eaters.  Eight  days  is  a  short  time  for  the  accomplishment  of 
so  great  a  change. 

A  brown  thrasher  at  ten  visits  made  in  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  minutes  delivered  to  one  of  her  young  just  out  of 
the  nest  one  spider,  one  earthworm,  one  hairy  caterpillar  an 
inch  and  a  half  long,  two  Carolina  locusts,  seven  red-legged 
locusts,  and  three  other  insects  which  were  not  identified. 

A  bobolink  brought  to  two  fledglings  between  5.13  and 
5.33  one  afternoon, —  twenty  minutes, — nine  grasshoppers. 
The  next  morning  between  9.18  and  10.05,— forty-seven 
minutes, — ten  grasshoppers  were  brought.  About  that  time 
one  of  the  young  birds  escaped.  To  the  remaining  one  he 
fed  eleven  grasshoppers  in  two  hours.  Of  the  thirty  'hoppers 


I 

THE   AMOUNT   OF   FOOD   CONSUMED    BY    BIRDS.  67 

all  but  two  were  green,  some  belonging  to  the  family  Acri- 
diidce  and  others  to  the  family  Locustidce. 

Dr.  Sylvester  D.  Judd,1  from  an  observation  on  the  food  of 
three  young  house-wrens  about  three-fourths  grown,  reports 
that  "The  mother  made  one  hundred  and  ten  visits  to  her 
little  ones  in  four  hours  and  thirty-seven  minutes,  and  fed 
them  one  hundred  and  eleven  spiders  and  insects.  Among 
these  were  identified  one  white  grub,  one  soldier-bug,  three 
millers  (Noctuidce),  nine  spiders,  nine  grasshoppers,  fifteen 
May-flies,  and  thirty-four  caterpillars.  On  the  following  day 
similar  observations  were  made  from  9.35  A.M.  till  12.40  P.M., 
and  in  the  three  hours  and  five  minutes  the  young  were  fed 
sixty-seven  times.  Spiders  were  identified  in  four  instances, 
grasshoppers  in  five,  May-flies  in  seventeen,  and  caterpillars 
in  twenty." 

Four  chipping-sparrows  about  five  days  old  devoured 
thirty-seven  grasshoppers,  several  of  which  were  adults,  but 
most  of  them  half-grown  nymphs,  between  4.37  and  6.06  P.M., 
— eighty-nine  minutes.  The  next  morning  between  9.56  and 
10.45, — forty-nine  minutes, — they  ate  eighteen  grasshoppers 
and  two  full-grown  measuring  worms  (Cingilia).  A  single 
young  chippy  lately  out  of  the  nest  was  seen  to  take  food 
— grasshoppers  chiefly — thirty  times  in  sixty-five  minutes. 

A  brood  of  three  chipping-sparrows  watched  by  us  one 
entire  day  received  food  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  times. 
It  was  not  possible  to  determine  the  exact  nature  of  all  that 
was  brought,  but  it  appeared  to  be  wholly  insectivorous,  cut- 
worms and  other  caterpillars  being  often  observed.2 

These  observations  are  certainly  sufficient  to  establish  the 
fact  that  birds  as  a  class  consume  an  enormous  amount  of 
food. 


1  Yearbook,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agr.,1900,  p.  413. 

2  Weed,  Feeding  Habits  of  the  Chipping-Sparrow,  N.  H.  C.  Ag.  Exp. 
St.,  Bull.  55. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

BIRDS   AS    REGULATORS    OF    OUTBREAKS    OF    INJURIOUS 
ANIMALS. 

IT  is  well  known  that,  as  a  rule,  the  most  damage  to  culti- 
vated crops  is  done  by  the  species  of  insects  and  other 
noxious  animals  which  fluctuate  greatly  in  numbers.  In  this 
chapter  we  have  to  determine  whether  in  the  presence  of  an 
extraordinary  abundance  of  a  given  edible  animal  birds  vary 
their  food  ratios  by  taking  unusual  numbers  of  the  species  in 
question.  If  they  do,  it  is  evident  that  they  assist  in  reducing 
the  pest  to  its  normal  limit ;  if  they  do  not,  they  neglect  an 
opportunity  for  usefulness. 

Four  examples  may  serve  to  illustrate  the  tendencies  of 
birds  under  such  conditions.  The  first  relates  to  the  canker- 
worm,  the  second  to  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust,  the  third  to 
the  army-worm,  and  the  fourth  to  the  European  vole,  or  field- 
mouse. 

A  few  years  ago  a  large  apple-orchard  in  central  Illinois 
was  severely  attacked  by  canker-worms.  As  a  result  of  their 
depredations  a  considerable  part  of  the  orchard  had  the  ap- 
pearance at  a  little  distance  of  having  been  ruined  by  fire. 
To  determine  whether  the  birds  of  the  region  were  exerting 
themselves  to  check  this  outbreak,  Professor  S.  A.  Forbes 
visited  the  orchard  for  two  successive  seasons,  shooting  each 
time  a  number  of  birds  of  the  various  species  present.  The 
stomach  contents  of  these  were  afterward  carefully  examined : 
from  the  published  record l  of  the  results  we  have  made  the 
following  summary. 

1  Bulletin  of  the  Illinois  State  Laboratory  of  Natural  History,  vol.  L, 
No.  6. 


THE   CAT-BIRD. 


BIRDS    AS    REGULATORS   OF   OUTBREAKS. 


69 


Nine  robins  had  eaten  only  animal  food,  of  which  canker- 
worms  formed  twenty,  cutworms  twenty-eight,  and  vine- 
chafers  fourteen  per  cent.,  making  a  total  of  sixty-two  per 


APPLE-LEAVES   ATTACKED   BY  CANKER-WORMS. 

cent,  for  these  three  groups  of  insects.  Eleven  per  cent,  of 
the  remainder  consisted  of  click-beetles  (Elateridce).  Fourteen 
cat-birds  were  examined  :  they  had  eaten  fifteen  per  cent,  of 
canker-worms,  ten  per  cent,  of  cutworms  and  other  cater- 
pillars, fourteen  per  cent,  of  ants,  and  thirty-three  per  cent, 
of  vine-chafers.  Four  brown  thrushes  had  eaten  canker- 
worms,  vine-chafers,  June-beetles,  click-beetles,  ground-beetles, 
and  other  insects.  Combining  these  food  elements  of  twenty- 
seven  members  of  the  thrush  family,  Professor  Forbes  found 
that  unone  of  them  had  eaten  any  vegetation  whatever; 
that  ninety-six  per  cent,  of  their  food  consisted  of  insects 
(myriapods  and  earthworms  making  up  the  remaining  four 
per  cent.) ;  that  sixteen  per  cent,  was  canker-worms,  and 
only  four  per  cent,  predaceous  beetles."  The  vine-chafer 
made  just  twenty- five  per  cent,  of  the  entire  food. 

The  most  important  element  in  the  food  of  five  bluebirds 
was  the  vine-chafer  (thirty-six  per  cent.),  while  canker-worms 
formed  twelve  per  cent.  Two  black-capped  chickadees  had 


TO 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAX. 


eaten  only  canker-worms  and  beetles,  the  former  making 
sixty-one  per  cent,  of  the  food  and  the  latter  belonging 
principally  to  a  wood-boring  beetle  of  the  genus  Psenocerus. 

Nearly  half  of  the  food 

of  several  house-wrens 
consisted  of  canker- 
worms. 

Passing  now  to  the 
warblers  (Miiiotiltidce), 
we  come  to  many  spe- 
cies feeding  largely  on 
canker-worms.  Four- 
fifths  of  the  food  of  a 
single  Tennessee  war- 
bler consisted  of  these 
insects.  Two-thirds 
of  that  of  five  sum- 
mer yellow-birds  was 
canker- w  o  r  m  s,  and 
the  same  was  true  of 
two  chestnut  -sided 
warblers  and  also  of 
four  black-poll  Avar- 
blers.  A  single  black- 
throated  green  war- 
bler had  eaten  seventy  per  cent,  of  canker-worms,  and  two 
Maryland  yellow-throats  had  eaten  forty  per  cent,  of  these 
and  forty  per  cent,  of  other  caterpillars.  Consequently  canker- 
worms  composed  nearly  or  quite  two-thirds  of  the  food  of 
these  fifteen  warblers.  Seventy-nine  per  cent,  of  the  food 
of  three  warbling  vireos  consisted  of  caterpillars,  more  than 
half  of  them  being  canker-worms. 

Out  of  a  flock  of  about  thirty  cherry-birds,  or  cedar  wax- 
wings,  seven  birds  were  shot.  With  the  exception  of  a  few 
Aphodii  (small  beetles)  "  eaten  by  three  of  the  birds  in 


THE  BLUEBIRD. 


BIRDS   AS    REGULATORS    OF    OUTBREAKS.  71 

numbers  too  insignificant  to  figure  in  the  ratios,  the  entire 
food  of  all  these  birds  consisted  of  canker-worms,  which 
therefore  stand  at  an  average  of  one  hundred  per  cent.  The 
number  in  each  stomach  determined  by  actual  count  ranged 
from  seventy  to  one  hundred  and  one,  and  was  usually  nearly 
one  hundred.  Assuming  that  these  constituted  a  whole  day's 
food,  the  thirty  birds  were  destroying  three  thousand  worms 
a  day,  or  ninety  thousand  for  the  month  during  which  the 
caterpillar  is  exposed." 

A  specimen  each  of  the  cliff-swallow,  American  gold- 
finch, and  yellow-winged  sparrow  had  eaten  no  canker-worms. 
About  one-third  of  the  food  of  eight  chipping-sparrows  con- 
sisted of  caterpillars,  half  of  them  being  canker-worms. 
Three  field-sparrows  had  eaten  largely  of  canker-worms  and 
various  beetles,  forty-three  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  fourteen 
black-throated  buntings  consisted  of  canker-worms,  and  a 
very  few  of  these  worms  had  been  eaten  by  two  rose-breasted 
grosbeaks ;  they  also  formed  fifty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  food 
of  eighteen  indigo-birds. 

No  canker-worms  were  found  in  the  stomachs  of  a  single 
cow-bird  and  two  red-winged  blackbirds.  Three  Baltimore 
orioles,  however,  had  eaten  forty  per  cent,  of  these  worms 
and  fifty  per  cent,  of  vine-chafers.  Two  orchard-orioles  made 
even  a  better  showing.  "  More  than  three-fourths  of  the  food 
of  these  consisted  of  canker-worms,  and  other  caterpillars 
made  an  additional  twenty  per  cent."  Three  bronzed 
grackles  had  eaten  no  caterpillars. 

Passing  now  to  the  family  of  flycatchers  we  find  that  more 
than  one-fourth  of  the  food  of  three  kingbirds  consisted  of 
canker-worms  and  fully  one-half  of  vine-chafers.  The  food 
of  three  wood-pewees  consisted  entirely  of  flying  insects. 
Two  specimens  of  Train's  flycatcher  had  eaten  twenty-five 
per  cent,  of  canker-worms,  and  a  single  yellow-bellied  fly- 
catcher had  eaten  an  equal  percentage  of  vine-chafers  but  no 
canker-worms.  A  single  black-billed  cuckoo  had  eaten  of 


72  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

canker-worms  seventy-five  per  cent.,  other  caterpillars  twenty 
per  cent.,  and  vine-chafers  five  per  cent.  Four  red-headed 
woodpeckers  had  eaten  fifteen  per  cent,  of  canker-worms, 
while  a  single  golden-winged  woodpecker  had  eaten  only  ants. 
No  canker-worms  were  found  in  one  mourning-dove  and  two 
quails. 

Summarizing  the  above  results  into  one  general  statement, 
it  is  found  that  one  hundred  and  forty-one  specimens  be- 
longing to  thirty-six  species  were  studied.  u  Twenty-six  of 
these  species  had  been  eating  canker-worms,  which  were 
found  in  the  stomachs  of  eighty-five  specimens, — that  is  to 
say,  seventy-two  per  cent,  of  the  species  and  sixty  per  cent, 
of  the  specimens  had  eaten  the  worms.  Taking  the  entire 
assemblage  of  one  hundred  and  forty-one  birds  as  one  group, 
we  find  that  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  their  food  consisted  of 
canker-worms." 

A  comparison  was  made,  in  the  case  of  the  robin,  cat-bird, 
black-throated  bunting,  and  indigo-bird,  of  the  food  in  this 
orchard  and  that  of  the  species  during  May  under  ordinary 
circumstances.  These  results  showed  that  there  was  a  gen- 
eral diminution  of  vegetable  and  miscellaneous  food  in  the 
orchard  specimens  to  compensate  for  the  increase  of  cater- 
pillars. 

" Three  facts,"  says  Professor  Forbes,  "stand  out  very 
clearly  as  the  result  of  these  investigations  : 

"(1)  Birds  of  the  most  A^aried  character  and  habits, 
migrant  and  resident,  of  all  sizes  from  the  tiny  wren  to  the 
blue-jay,  birds  of  the  forest,  garden,  and  meadow,  those  of 
arboreal  and  those  of  terrestrial  habits,  were  certainly  either 
attracted  or  detained  here  by  the  bountiful  supply  of  insect 
food  and  were  feeding  freely  upon  the  species  most  abundant. 
That  thirty-five  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  the  birds  congregated 
here  should  have  consisted  of  a  single  species  of  insect  is  a 
fact  so  extraordinary  that  its  meaning  cannot  be  mistaken. 
Whatever  power  the  birds  of  this  vicinity  possessed  as  checks 


BIRDS   AS    REGULATORS   OF   OUTBREAKS.  73 

upon  destructive  irruptions  of  insect  life  was  being  largely 
exerted  here  to  restore  the  broken  balance  of  organic  nature. 
And  while  looking  for  their  influence  over  one  insect  outbreak 
we  stumbled  upon  at  least  two  others,  less  marked,  perhaps 
incipient,  but  evident  enough  to  express  themselves  clearly 
in  the  changed  food  ratios  of  the  birds. 

u  (2)  The  comparisons  made  show  plainly  that  the  reflex 
effect  of  this  concentration  on  two  or  three  unusually  nu- 
merous insects  was  so  Avidely  distributed  over  the  ordinary 
elements  of  their  food  that  no  especial  chance  was  given  for 
the  rise  of  new  fluctuations  among  the  species  commonly 
eaten.  That  is  to  say,  the  abnormal  pressure  put  upon  the 
canker-worm  and  the  vine-chafer  was  compensated  by  a  gen- 
eral diminution  of  the  ratios  of  all  the  other  elements,  and  not 
by  a  neglect  of  one  or  two  alone.  If  the  latter  had  been  the 
case,  the  criticism  might  easily  have  been  made  that  the 
birds  in  helping  to  reduce  one  oscillation  were  setting  others 
on  foot. 

"  (3)  The  fact  that,  with  the  exception  of  the  indigo-bird, 
the  species  whose  records  in  the  orchard  w^ere  compared  with 
those  made  elsewhere  had  eaten  in  the  former  situation  as 
many  caterpillars  other  than  canker-worms  as  usual,  simply 
adding  their  canker-worm  ratios  to  those  of  other  caterpil- 
lars, goes  to  show  that  these  insects  are  favorites  with  a 
majority  of  birds.'1 

One  of  the  most  notable  series  of  studies  of  the  relation 
of  birds  to  outbreaks  of  injurious  insects  was  that  carried  on 
for  thirteen  years  by  Professor  Samuel  Aughey,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nebraska,  concerning  the  extent  to  which  birds 
feed  upon  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust  or  grasshopper  during 
the  periodic  outbreaks  of  that  insect.  Fortunately,  the  results 
of  these  studies  have  been  preserved  by  the  United  States 
Entomological  Commission.1  Between  1865  and  1877  Pro- 

1  First  Report,  Appendix  II. 


74  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

fessor  Aughey  made  a  careful  investigation  of  this  subject, 
both  by  out-door  observations  of  living  birds  and  by  in-door 
examinations  of  stomach  contents.  His  tabulated  results 
show  conclusively  that  birds  of  all  kinds  were  doing  their  best 
to  reduce  the  numbers  of  the  locusts.  A  brief  summary  of 
the  principal  facts  will  indicate  the  truth  of  this. 

Beginning  with  the  thrushes  and  their  allies,  we  find  that 
six  robins  had  eaten  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  locusts, 
three  wood-thrushes  had  taken  sixty-eight  locusts,  one 
hermit-thrush  contained  nineteen  locusts,  two  olive-backed 
thrushes  were  responsible  for  the  death  of  fifty-five  'hoppers, 
while  two  Wilson's  thrushes  had  destroyed  seventy-three 
more.  Five  cat-birds  had  eaten  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
of  these  insects. 

Sixty-seven  locusts  were  taken  from  the  stomachs  of  three 
bluebirds  and  twenty-nine  from  one  little  ruby-crowned 
kinglet,  while  four  tufted  titmice  yielded  two  hundred  and 
fifty  of  the  pests  and  nine  long-tailed  chickadees  contained 
four  hundred  and  eighty-one  of  them.  Four  slender-billed 
nuthatches — the  western  representative  of  the  white-breasted 
nuthatch — had  eaten  ninety-three  locusts.  Even  the  little 
warblers  ate  many  of  the  pests,  naturally  choosing  the 
younger  specimens.  Seven  golden  warblers  had  taken  sev- 
enty-seven locusts  and  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  other 
insects.  Five  black-throated  green  warblers  contained  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  'hoppers  and  one  hundred  and  four  other 
insects.  Four  black-poll  warblers  had  eaten  one  hundred 
and  twenty- three  locusts,  varying  their  diet  with  forty-seven 
insects  of  other  kinds.  Eight  prairie-warblers  devoured  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  of  the  locusts  and  a  greater  number 
of  other  insects ;  while  the  golden-crowned  thrush  had  fed 
upon  both  the  'hoppers  and  their  eggs.  Many  warblers  were 
seen  feeding  their  nestlings  with  young  locusts. 

While  the  warblers  paid  most  attention  to  the  immature 
grasshoppers,  the  swallows  fed  chiefly  upon  the  adult  winged 


BIRDS   AS   REGULATORS   OF   OUTBREAKS.  75 

insects,  probably  catching  them  in  the  air.  Seven  barn- 
swallows  had  eaten  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine,  eight  eaves- 
swallows  three  hundred  and  twenty-six,  five  bank-swallows 
one  hundred  and  four,  and  ten  purple  martins  two  hundred 
and  sixty-five  locusts. 

The  vireos  and  shrikes  were  found  to  eat  many  of  the 
pests,  while  some  of  the  grosbeaks  and  finches  ate  the  eggs 
as  well  as  the  'hoppers.  Three  bobolinks  had  devoured  an 
average  of  fourteen  locusts  each,  while  nine  meadow-larks 
had  taken  two  hundred  and  thirteen  of  the  pests  besides  some 
of  their  eggs.  Fifty-one  locusts  were  taken  from  the  stomach 
of  a  single  yellow-headed  blackbird,  while  the  Baltimore 
oriole,  Brewer's  blackbird,  and  the  purple  grackle  were  noted 
as  feeding  almost  exclusively  upon  the  pests  when  the  latter 
were  abundant. 

Even  the  raven,  the  crow,  the  magpie,  and  the  blue-jay  fol- 
lowed the  prevailing  fashion  in  the  feathered  world,  eating 
large  numbers  of  the  locusts,  although  no  doubt  they  did  not 
wholly  neglect  the  occupants  of  any  of  the  nests  of  the 
smaller  birds  with  which  they  came  in  contact.  The  flycatch- 
ers and  pewees  proved  to  be  doing  good  service,  while  the 
stomachs  of  the  Avhippoorwill  and  nighthawk  were  crowded 
with  'hoppers,  three  hundred  and  forty-eight  being  taken  from 
seven  specimens  of  the  latter  species. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  the  tiny  ruby-throated  hum- 
ming-bird should  also  have  followed  the  fashion,  yet  Professor 
Aughey  assures  us  that  a  specimen  caught  by  a  cat  u  had  four 
small  locusts  in  its  stomach."  After  this  we  are  prepared  to 
learn  that  the  stately  kingfisher  varies  his  scaly  diet  with  an 
occasional  'hopper.  Nor  is  it  surprising  that  ten  specimens 
of  the  highly  insectivorous  yellow-billed  cuckoo  had  eaten 
four  hundred  and  sixteen  locusts  as  well  as  one  hundred  and 
fifty-two  other  insects. 

The  woodpeckers  evidently  varied  their  usual  diet  to  an 
extraordinary  degree  on  account  of  the  presence  of  the  grass- 


76  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

hoppers.  Six  hairy  woodpeckers  had  taken  one  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  locusts  and  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  other 
insects  ;  four  downy  woodpeckers  had  eaten  one  hundred  and 
sixty-five  locusts  and  ninety  other  insects ;  five  yellow-bellied 
woodpeckers  contained  one  hundred  and  thirty  'hoppers  and 
ninety-three  specimens  of  other  species  ;  six  red-headed  wood- 
peckers had  devoured  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  locusts  and 
two  hundred  other  insects ;  while  eight  flickers  contained  two 
hundred  and  fifty-two  of  the  'hoppers  together  with  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-nine  insects  of  other  species. 

The  extent  to  which  birds  of  prey  fed  upon  the  locusts 
would  surprise  the  many  people  who  look  upon  hawks  and 
owls  only  as  enemies  of  the  poultry-yard,  deserving  extermi- 
nation. One  barn-owl  had  eaten  thirty-nine  locusts,  twenty- 
two  other  insects,  and  a  mouse.  Eight  screech-owls  contained 
two  hundred  and  nineteen  'hoppers  and  many  other  insects, 
while  nine  burrowing  owls  had  devoured  three  hundred  and 
eighteen  locusts.  The  hawks  patterned  after  the  owls  ;  six 
marsh-hawks  ate  two  hundred  and  forty-nine  locusts,  while 
two  Swainson's  buzzards  had  devoured  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  of  the  pests. 

Even  the  pigeons  and  the  gallinaceous  birds  which  usually 
feed  so  largely  upon  grains  and  seeds  added  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  locusts  to  their  diet.  Professor  Aughey  writes  that 
in  locust  years  the  wild  turkey  makes  the  pest  its  principal 
food.  Four  sage-cocks  had  eaten  one  hundred  and  ninety 
grasshoppers,  while  the  sharp-tailed  grouse,  prairie-hen,  and 
quail  ate  enormous  numbers  of  them. 

Passing  now  to  the  shore  birds,  the  records  of  the  golden 
plover,  the  American  snipe,  the  various  sand-pipers,  godwits, 
tattlers,  and  curlews  all  tell  the  same  story  of  locust  destruc- 
tion. Even  the  great  blue-heron,  American  bittern,  and  sand- 
hill crane  devoured  the  pests,  while  the  rails  and  American 
coot  added  their  efforts  to  subdue  them.  The  snow-goose, 
the  Canada  goose,  and  the  various  ducks — including  the  mal- 


BIRDS   AS   REGULATORS   OF    OUTBREAKS.  77 

lard,  dusky  duck,  pintail,  and  blue-winged  teal — contained 
quantities  of  'hoppers.  Two  out  of  five  white  pelicans  exam- 
ined had  varied  their  diet  of  crayfish  and  frogs  by  picking  up 
locusts,  one  containing  forty-one  and  the  other  sixty-seven 
specimens. 

The  gulls — including  the  black-backed,  herring,  ring-billed, 
and  Franklin's  rosy  gull — had  eaten  many  grasshoppers,  as 
had  also  the  least  and  the  black  tern. 

It  certainly  would  be  difficult  to  obtain  more  striking  evi- 
dence than  this  concerning  the  utility  of  birds  in  checking  out- 
breaks of  injurious  insects.  The  fact  that  birds  of  all  sorts 
and  sizes,  from  the  giant  pelican  to  the  tiny  humming-bird, 
— birds  of  the  prairie,  the  forest,  the  air,  the  shore,  the  sea, 
and  the  inland  lake, — fed  so  largely  upon  the  locusts  proves 
beyond  doubt  that  these  feathered  allies  were  using  to  the 
fullest  extent  a  tremendous  force  to  check  the  ranks  of  the 
invaders. 

A  few  years  ago  the  army-worm  appeared  in  great  num- 
bers in  Pennsylvania,  causing  much  damage  to  field  crops. 
The  State  zoologist,  Professor  B.  H.  Warren,  made  a  careful 
series  of  investigations  to  determine  the  extent  to  which  birds 
fed  upon  the  pests.  The  results  showed  that  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  common  birds  devoured  them  eagerly.  Crows, 
blackbirds,  robins,  cat-birds,  thrushes,  meadow-larks,  and 
bluebirds  were  found  to  get  a  large  part  of  their  food  from 
the  hosts  of  the  army-worms.  Kill-deers,  sand-pipers,  and 
sparrows  also  fed  freely  upon  them,  while  the  screech-owl 
and  the  sparrow-hawk  devoured  great  numbers  of  the  pests. 

Insects,  however,  are  not  the  only  animals  against  whose 
undue  increase  the  agriculturist  needs  protection.  In  many 
parts  of  Europe  there  have  been  for  centuries  periodic  out- 
breaks of  field-mice  that  have  caused  enormous  injury.  The 
species  oftenest  concerned  appears  to  be  the  short-tailed  field- 
mouse  (Arvicola  agrestis),  related  to  the  common  meadow- 
mice  of  the  United  States.  There  is  abundant  evidence  that 


78  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

at  the  times  of  such  uprisings  the  birds  of  prey  flock  to  the  in- 
fested fields  in  great  numbers.  More  than  three  centuries  ago 
this  fact  was  noticed,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  paragraph 
from  Stow's  "  Chronicle  :" . 

"About  Hallontide  last  past  (1581),  in  the  marshes  of 
Danesey  Hundred,  in  the  county  of  Essex,  there  suddenly 
appeared  an  infinite  number  of  mice,  which  overwhelming 
the  whole  earth  in  the  said  marshes  did  shear  and  gnawe  the 
grass  by  the  roots,  spoyling  and  tainting  the  same  with  their 
venomous  teeth  in  such  sort  that  the  cattell  which  grazed 
thereon  were  smitten  with  a  murrain ;  which  vermine  by 
policy  of  man  could  not  be  destroyed,  till  at  last  it  came  to 
pass  that  there  flocked  together  such  a  number  of  owls  as  all 
the  shire  was  able  to  yield,  whereby  the  marsh  holders  were 
shortly  delivered  from  the  vexation  of  said  mice.  The  like 
of  this  w^as  also  in  Kent." 

Another  "  sore  plague  of  strange  mice1'  occurred  in  Essex 
in  1648.  In  1754  a  correspondent  of  the  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine wrote  from  Market  Downham,  England :  "  Once  in  about 
six  or  seven  years  Helgay,  about  one  thousand  acres,  is  in- 
fested with  an  incredible  number  of  field-mice,  which  like 
locusts  devour  the  corn  of  every  kind.  Invariably  there 
follows  a  prodigious  flight  of  Norway  owls,  and  they  tarry 
until  the  mice  are  evidently  destroyed  by  them.'1 

Similar  testimony  exists  concerning  the  more  recent  out- 
breaks. That  of  1875-6 — one  of  unusual  severity,  in  which 
one-third  of  the  pastures  of  the  affected  district  were  de- 
stroyed— was  attributed  partly  to  a  series  of  mild  winters  and 
partly  to  the  destruction  of  predacous  birds  and  mammals. 
A  recent  English  writer,  Dr.  W.  B.  Wall,  says  that  uthe 
chief  enemies  of  the  voles  are  the  short-eared  owl  and  the 
kestrel  hawk,  which  will  do  more  to  reduce  their  ranks  than 
all  the  traps  of  the  agriculturist  and  'the  microbes  of  the 
scientist  combined.  The  kestrel  hawk  is  known  to  all,  duly 
appreciated  by  a  few,  but  still  destroyed  by  too  many.  The 


_ 
BIRDS   AS   REGULATORS   OF  OUTBREAKS.  79 

short-eared  owl  is  one  of  our  most  valuable  winter  visitors, 
arriving  about  October  and  leaving  usually  in  March.  It  fre- 
quents open  moors,  alights  and  secretes  itself  on  the  ground 
in  preference  to  trees,  and  feeds  by  day  as  well  as  in  the 
evening.  In  this  winter  of  1887-8  the  moors  were  crowded 
with  these  birds,  it  being  no  uncommon  occurrence  to  start 
two  or  more  at  the  same  time  from  the  long  grass ;  the  ex- 
planation of  their  numbers  no  doubt  being  that  the  preceding 
dry  summer  had  been  most  favorable  to  the  increase  of  the 
animal  life  of  the  moors,  which  supplied  ample  food  and  in- 
ducements for  the  birds  to  congregate." 

Mr.  W.  H.  Hudson,  in  his  fascinating  book,  "  The  Natu- 
ralist in  La  Plata,"  gives  a  graphic  account  of  the  suppression 
of  an  outbreak  of  mice  on  the  pampas  of  South  America. 
These  little  creatures  had  increased  to  an  enormous  extent, 
and  animals  of  many  kinds  lived  upon  them.  uln  the  au- 
tumn of  the  year  countless  numbers  of  storks  (Ciconia  mag- 
nari)  and  of  short-eared  owls  made  their  appearance.  They 
also  came  to  assist  at  the  general  feast.1'  The  mice  were 
soon  reduced  in  numbers  to  a  point  far  below  their  normal 
limit.  A  similar  abundance  of  birds  is  noticed,  Mr.  Hud- 
son says,  whenever  other  animals — grasshoppers,  crickets,  or 
frogs — become  excessively  numerous  on  the  pampas.  He 
explains  the  concentration  of  these  birds — usually  seldom 
seen — upon  the  spot  where  food  abounds  by  the  statement 
that  when  not  breeding  they  are  constantly  travelling  in 
search  of  food,  flying  at  great  heights  and  covering  a  large 
territory  in  their  wanderings.  "  When  the  favorite  food  of  any 
one  of  these  species  is  plentiful  in  any  particular  region,  all 
the  individuals  that  discover  it  remain  and  attract  to  them  all 
of  their  kind  passing  overhead.  This  happened  in  the  pampas 
with  the  stork,  the  short-eared  owl,  the  hooded  gull,  and  the 
dominican  or  black-backed  gull, — the  leading  species  among 
the  feathered  nomads ;  a  few  first  appear  like  harbingers ; 
these  are  presently  joined  by  new-comers  in  considerable 


80 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


numbers,  and  before  long  they  are  in  myriads.  Inconceivable 
numbers  of  birds  are  doubtless  in  these  regions  continually 
passing  over  us  unseen." 

In  the  presence  of  an  unusual  abundance  of  food  the  rate 
of  increase  of  some  birds  becomes  greater.  It  has  been  noticed 
that  owls  multiply  rapidly  when  outbreaks  of  mice  occur. 

Testimony  of  this  kind  could  be  multiplied  indefinitely :  it 
unquestionably  is  sufficient  to  demonstrate  that  when  an  out- 
break of  mice  or  similar  pests  occurs  the  hawks  and  owls  find 
an  abundant  food  supply,  of  which  they  readily  avail  them- 
selves, and  in  so  doing  check  to  a  great  extent  the  damage 
that  might  be  done. 

The  evidence  furnished  by  these  examples  suffices  to  show 
that  birds  do  exert  a  decided  influence  in  checking  unusual 
outbreaks  of  injurious  animals.  They  have  been  well  likened 
to  a  great  standing  army  which  may  be  concentrated  at  short 
notice  upon  any  locality  where  an  outbreak  occurs. 


CHIPPING-SPARROW   AT  NEST. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE   RELATIONS   OF  BIRDS   TO    PREDACEOUS  AND  PARASITIC 

INSECTS. 

THE  attempt  is  frequently  made  to  belittle  the  usefulness 
of  birds  by  the  argument  that  they  do  as  much  harm  by  feed- 
ing upon  predaceous  and  parasitic  insects  as  they  do  good  by 
devouring  the  injurious  ones.  For  example,  B.  D.  Walsh, 
the  first  State  Entomologist  of  Illinois,  claimed  that  a  bird 
must  eat  at  least  thirty  injurious  insects  for  every  beneficial 
one  in  order  to  be  of  economic  value  ;  and  since  then  similar 
arguments  have  frequently  been  used.  During  the  last  few 
'years  students  of  bird  food  have  commonly  placed  the  results 
of  their  studies  under  these  headings :  "  Beneficial,"  u  In- 
jurious," "  Neutral ;"  including  in  the  former  all  parasitic  and 
predaceous  insects.  Before  proceeding  to  a  general  discussion 
of  the  principles  which  underlie  this  whole  subject,  the  ab- 
surdity of  this  assumption  may  easily  be  shown.  Suppose 
an  ichneumon  parasite  is  found  in  the  stomach  of  a  robin  or 
other  bird :  it  may  belong  to  any  one  of  the  following  cate- 
gories : 

(1)  The  primary  parasite  of  an  injurious  insect. 

(2)  The  secondary  parasite  of  an  injurious  insect. 

(3)  The  primary  parasite  of  an  insect  feeding  on  a  noxious 
plant. 

(4)  The  secondary  parasite  of  an  insect  feeding  on  a  nox- 
ious plant. 

(5)  The  primary  parasite  of  an  insect  feeding  on  a  wild 
plant  of  no  economic  value. 

(6)  The  secondary  parasite  of  an  insect  feeding  on  a  wild 
plant  of  no  economic  value. 

(7)  The  primary  parasite  of  a  predaceous  insect. 

6  81 


82  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

(8)  The  primary  parasite  of  a  spider  or  spider's  egg. 

This  list  might  easily  be  extended  still  farther,  and  the 
assumption  that  the  parasite  belongs  to  the  first  of  these 
categories  is  unwarranted  by  the  facts  and  does  violence  to 
the  probabilities  of  the  case. 

A  correct  idea  of  the  economic  rdle  of  the  feathered  tribes 
may  be  obtained  only  by  a  broader  view  of  nature's  methods, 
— a  vieAv  in  which  we  must  ever  keep  before  the  mind's  eye 
the  fact  that  all  the  parts  of  the  organic  world,  from  monad 
to  man,  are  linked  together  in  a  thousand  ways,  the  net  result 
being  that  unstable  equilibrium  commonly  called  u  the  bal- 
ance of  nature." 

The  fact  that  in  eating  insect  parasites  birds  do  not  neces- 
sarily cause  an  economic  loss  was  first  pointed  out  by  Pro- 
fessor S.  A.  Forbes  in  an  admirable  essay  entitled  "  On  some 
Interactions  of  Organisms."  As  we  find  it  impossible  to  im- 
prove and  difficult  to  condense  the  argument  there  printed, 
we  quote  the  following  extended  extract. 

"  Evidently  a  species  cannot  long  maintain  itself  in  numbers 
greater  than  can  find  sufficient  food  year  after  year.  If  it  is 
a  phytophagous  insect,  for  example,  it  will  soon  dwindle  if  it 
seriously  lessens  the  numbers  of  the  plants  upon  which  it 
feeds,  either  directly  by  eating  them  up,  or  indirectly  by  so 
weakening  them  that  they  labor  under  a  marked  disadvantage 
in  the  struggle  with  other  plants  for  foothold,  light,  air,  and 
food.  The  interest  of  the  insect  is  therefore  identical  with 
the  interest  of  the  plant  it  feeds  upon.  Whatever  injuriously 
affects  the  latter,  equally  injures  the  former;  and  whatever 
favors  the  latter,  equally  favors  the  former.  This  must  there- 
fore be  regarded  as  the  extreme  normal  limit  of  the  members 
of  a  phytophagous  species,  a  limit  such  that  its  depredations 
shall  do  no  especial  harm  to  the  plants  upon  which  it  de- 
pends for  food,  but  shall  remove  only  the  excess  of  foliage  or 
fruit,  or  else  superfluous  individuals  which  must  either  perish 
otherwise  if  not  eaten  or,  surviving,  must  injure  their  species 


BIRDS   IN    RELATION   TO    PARASITIC    INSECTS.  83 

by  overcrowding.  If  the  plant-feeder  multiply  beyond  the 
above  limit,  evidently  the  diminution  of  the  food  supply  will 
soon  react  to  diminish  its  own  numbers,  a  counter  reaction 
will  then  take  place  in  favor  of  the  plant,  and  so  on  through 
an  oscillation  of  indefinite  continuance. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  reduction  of  the  phytophagous 
insect  below  the  normal  number  will  evidently  injure  the 
food  plant  by  preventing  a  reduction  of  its  excess  of  growth 
or  numbers,  and  will  also  set  up  an  oscillation  like  the  pre- 
ceding except  that  the  steps  will  be  taken  in  reverse  order. 

"  I  next  point  out  the  fact  that  precisely  the  same  reason- 
ing applies  to  predaceous  and  parasitic  insects.  Their  inter- 
ests also  are  identical  with  the  interests  of  the  species  they 
parasitize  or  prey  upon.  A  diminution  of  their  food  reacts  to 
diminish  their  own  numbers.  They  are  thus  vitally  inter- 
ested in  confining  their  depredations  to  the  excess  of  indi- 
viduals produced  or  to  redundant  or  otherwise  unessential 
structures.  It  is  only  by  a  sort  of  unlucky  accident  that  a 
destructive  species  really  injures  the  species  preyed  upon. 

u  The  discussion  thus  far  has  affected  only  such  organisms 
as  are  confined  to  a  single  species.  It  remains  to  see  how  it 
applies  to  such  as  have  several  sources  of  support  open  to 
them, — such,  for  instance,  as  feed  indifferently  upon  several 
plants  or  upon  a  variety  of  animals  or  both.  Let  us  take, 
first,  the  case  of  a  predaceous  beetle  feeding  upon  a  variety 
of  other  insects, — either  indifferently  upon  whatever  species 
is  most  numerous  or  most  accessible,  or  preferably  upon  cer- 
tain species,  resorting  to  others  only  in  case  of  an  insufficiency 
of  its  favorite  food. 

u  It  is  at  once  evident  that,  taking  its  food-insects  as  a  unit, 
the  same  reasoning  applies  as  if  it  were  restricted  to  a  single 
species  for  food :  that  is,  it  is  interested  in  the  maintenance 
of  these  food-species  at  the  highest  number  consistent  with 
the  general  conditions  of  the  environment,  interested  to  con- 
fine its  own  depredations  to  that  surplus  of  its  food  which 


84  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

would  otherwise  perish  if  not  eaten,  interested,  therefore,  in 
establishing  a  rate  of  reproduction  for  itself  which  will  not 
unduly  lessen  its  food  supply.  Its  interest  in  the  numbers  of 
each  species  of  the  group  it  eats  will  evidently  be  the  same 
as  its  interest  in  the  group  as  a  whole,  since  the  group  as  a 
whole  can  be  kept  at  the  highest  number  possible  only  by 
keeping  each  species  at  the  highest  number  possible." 

Professor  Forbes  goes  on  to  show  that  when  the  rate  of 
reproduction  of  a  parasite  is  relatively  too  great  it  causes 
fluctuations  in  numbers  which  are  injurious  both  to  the 
parasite  and  its  host,  and  concludes  that  in  a  state  of  nature 
"  the  annihilation  of  all  the  established  enemies  of  a  species 
would,  as  a  rule,  have  no  effect  to  increase  its  final  average 
numbers." 

Such  being  the  case  where  man  has  not  interfered  with 
nature,  we  have  next  to  inquire  to  what  extent  these  princi- 
ples hold  good,  under  the  conditions  of  modern  agriculture, 
for  those  insects  which  feed  upon  cultivated  crops.  Evidently 
a  chief  element  of  disturbance  of  the  natural  order  here  lies 
in  the  enormously  increased  food  supply,  an  increase  so  great 
and  so  subject  to  multiplication  by  man  that  it  is  a  rare  event 
for  an  insect  to  reach  its  limit.  If  a  crop  in  a  given  locality 
is  destroyed  by  insects,  seed  from  another  region  is  usually 
planted  the  following  season,  so  that,  while  under  natural 
conditions  the  insect  would  have  been  starved  out,  it  is  instead 
given  an  increased  opportunity  to  develop.  In  consequence 
of  this,  the  law  that  no  animal  can  multiply  beyond  the  limits 
of  its  food  supply  becomes  practically  inoperative. 

But  while  this  is  true  of  the  plant-feeding  species,  it  is  not 
true  of  the  parasite  that  preys  upon  it.  The  latter  is  still 
under  the  operation  of  the  primal  food  law :  when  it  has 
reduced  the  numbers  of  its  host  to  a  point  where  it  must 
cease  to  multiply  because  there  are  no  caterpillars  in  which 
to  deposit  its  eggs,  man  does  not  step  in  and  furnish  a  supply 
of  caterpillars  to  keep  up  the  activities  of  the  parasite.  Con- 


BIRDS   IN    RELATION   TO    PARASITIC   INSECTS.  85 

sequently  there  is  a  great  and  sudden  decrease  of  the  numbers 
of  the  parasite. 

In  other  words,  while  the  law  that  no  species  can  multiply 
beyond  the  limits  of  its  food  supply  is  rendered  inoperative 
in  the  case  of  the  host  caterpillar,  it  continues  to  act  in  the 
case  of  the  parasite,  because  man  does  not  artificially  increase 
the  food  supply  of  the  latter.  Man's  interposition  evidently 
has  the  effect  of  extending  and  intensifying  the  oscillations 
which  would  occur  under  natural  conditions. 

We  must  next  determine  the  probable  effect  produced  when 
a  bird  eats  some  of  these  parasites.  It  need  hardly  be  said 
that  the  species  of  insects  which  live  exposed  are  very  much 
more  likely  to  be  eaten  by  birds  when  they  are  unusually 
abundant  than  when  not  numerous.  When  a  hymenopterous 
parasite  is  found  in  a  bird's  stomach,  the  chances  are  greatly 
in  favor  of  the  assumption  that  the  species  to  which  it  belongs 
is  at  the  time  more  numerous  than  usual.  The  destruction 
of  a  portion  of  the  parasites  may  not  only  involve  no  loss 
from  an  economic  point  of  view,  but  may  actually  be  a  bene- 
fit, in  that  it  will  extend  the  period  of  effective  operation  of 
the  parasite,  and  put  off  the  time  when  it  will  cut  off  its  own 
food  supply  by  its  too  rapid  increase.  The  probabilities  do 
not  justify  the  assumption  that  a  bird  usually  does  harm 
rather  than  good  in  eating  a  parasite  of  an  injurious  phy- 
tophagous insect. 

Nothing  has  been  said  in  regard  to  those  parasites  upon 
parasites  which  are  called  the  secondary  or  hyper-parasites 
of  noxious  insects.  Our  knowledge  of  the  precise  biological 
relations  of  these  is  limited.  On  general  principles  it  is  prob- 
able that  when  a  bird  eats  one  of  these  it  is  at  least  as  likely 
to  be  doing  man  a  benefit  as  an  injury.1 

1  For  an  account  of  the  relations  between  hymenopterous  parasites 
and  their  hosts,  see  Fiske,  "The  Parasites  of  the  Tent  Caterpillar," 
New  Hampshire  College  Agricultural  Exp.  Station,  Technical  Bulletin, 
No.  6. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 
THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES. 


THE    BLUEBIRD. 

THERE  is,  perhaps,  no  feathered  songster  which  has  so 
endeared  itself  to  the  people  of  the  northern  United  States 
as  the  bluebird.  Clad  in  modest  but  beautiful  colors,  endowed 
with  a  voice  of  plaintive  melody,  and  familiarly  associating 
with  man,  it  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  harbingers  of  spring. 


THE  BLUEBIRD. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

Its  insect-eating  habits  are  well  known,  for  the  bird  may  often 
be  seen  flitting  from  its  perch  in  chase  of  some  passing  moth 
or  grasshopper.  The  food  of  one  hundred  and  eight  Illinois 
specimens,  taken  in  every  month  of  the  year  except  Novem- 
ber and  January,  was  studied  by  Professor  S.  A.  Forbes.  In 
February  cutworms  and  ichneumon-flies  formed  the  most 
important  elements  of  the  food,  twenty-four  per  cent,  of  the 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR    ALLIES.  87 

former  and  twenty-two  per  cent,  of  the  latter  having  been 
eaten.  The  larvae  of  the  two-lined  soldier-beetle,  a  pre- 
daceous  species,  had  been  eaten  to  the  extent  of  eight  per 
cent,  and  young  grasshoppers  to  the  extent  of  nine  per  cent. 
Ground-beetles  formed  five  per  cent,  of  the  food,  soldier-bugs 
seven  per  cent.,  spiders  and  crickets  each  four  per  cent. 
The  ratios  of  parasitic  and  predaceous  species  were  very 
high,  these  making  thirty-nine  per  cent,  of  total  food  for  the 
month. 

In  March  thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  cutworms  and  related 
caterpillars,  part  of  them  being  army-worms,  and  one  per 
cent,  of  crickets  and  grasshoppers  were  eaten.  In  April 
large  numbers  of  small  dung-beetles  were  present  in  the 
stomachs.  Eight  per  cent,  of  ground-beetles,  nine  per  cent. 
of  spiders,  and  twenty-one  per  cent,  of  caterpillars  were  also 
present.  The  number  of  spiders  eaten  in  May  was  unusual, 
these  forming  twenty-one  per  cent,  of  the  food.  Moths, 
caterpillars,  June-beetles,  and  grasshoppers  had  been  eaten 
freely  this  month,  forming  fifty-five  per  cent,  of  the  stomach 
contents.  In  June  winged  ants  and  various  spiders  had  been 
eaten,  as  well  as  measuring  worms  and  ground-beetles.  A 
few  birds  had  eaten  a  small  number  of  raspberries  and  goose- 
berries. 

The  most  remarkable  elements  of  the  food  in  July  con- 
sisted of  grasshoppers  and  crickets  (twenty-seven  per  cent.) 
and  June-beetles  (twelve  per  cent.).  Caterpillars,  ground- 
beetles,  and  spiders  composed  the  more  important  parts  of 
the  remainder.  The  chief  business  of  the  month  of  August 
was  the  pursuit  of  locusts,  crickets,  grasshoppers,  moths,  and 
caterpillars.  The  three  first  named  amounted  to  more  than 
half  of  the  food  for  the  month,  and  the  moths  and  caterpil- 
lars to  more  than  one-fourth.  The  only  fruits  present  were 
a  few  wild  cherries  and  elder-berries. 

In  September  the  common  red-legged  grasshopper  was 
largely  eaten.  This  and  related  grasshoppers,  together  with 


88  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

cutworm-like  caterpillars,  formed  almost  nine-tenths  of  the 
food  for  the  month. 

The  bluebird  winters  to  a  considerable  extent  in  southern 
Illinois,  where  its  food  consists  very  largely  of  wild  fruits, 
especially  the  berries  of  the  mistletoe.  A  few  beetles,  bugs, 
and  spiders  fill  out  the  winter  bill  of  fare. 

In  the  case  of  six  young  bluebirds  yet  in  the  nest,  though 
well  feathered,  Dr.  Judd  found  that  the  food  consisted  of 
"beetles,  caterpillars,  grasshoppers,  spiders,  and  a  few  snails.11 

Although  the  bluebird  eats  a  large  percentage  of  preda- 
ceous  and  parasitic  species  that  are  often  considered  bene- 
ficial to  man,  the  probabilities  are  largely  in  favor  of  the 
assumption  that  in  devouring  these  the  bird  is  assisting  in 
keeping  up  a  proper  balance  of  organic  forces,  while  in  eating 
the  insects  injurious  to  crops  it  is  doing  a  very  great  good. 
Professor  Forbes  estimates  that  "  one  hundred  bluebirds  at 
thirty  insects  each  a  day  would  eat  in  eight  months  about  six 
hundred  and  seventy  thousand  insects.  If  this  number  of 
birds  were  destroyed,  the  result  would  be  the  preservation, 
on  the  area  supervised  by  them,  of  about  seventy  thousand 
moths  and  caterpillars  (many  of  them  cutworms),  twelve 
thousand  leaf-hoppers,  ten  thousand  curculios,  and  sixty-five 
thousand  crickets,  locusts,  and  grasshoppers.  How  this 
frightful  horde  of  marauders  would  busy  itself  if  left  undis- 
turbed no  one  can  doubt.  It  would  eat  grass  and  clover,  and 
corn  and  cabbage,  inflicting  an  immense  injury  itself,  and 
leaving  a  progeny  which  would  multiply  that  injury  indefi- 
nitely. 

The  bluebird  is  easily  encouraged  on  the  home  grounds 
and  will  well  repay  a  little  trouble  in  furnishing  nesting  sites. 
It  breeds  readily  in  boxes  and  bird-houses,  and  if  these  are 
provided  in  abundance  it  seems  likely  that  the  numbers  of 
the  birds  may  be  materially  increased. 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES.  89 

THE    ROBIN. 

With  the  exception  of  the  English  sparrow  and  possibly 
the  crow,  the  economic  status  of  no  American  bird  has  been 
discussed  so  fully  and  freely  as  that  of  the  robin.  Appear- 
ing early  in  spring  and  remaining  late  in  autumn  in  regions 
where  it  does  not  reside  throughout  the  year,  commonly  fre- 
quenting lawns  and  meadows,  building  conspicuous  nests 
near  the  haunts  of  man,  feeding  freely  upon  the  fruits  of  the 
garden  and  orchard,  greeting  the  rising  and  the  setting  sun 


THE   ROBIN. 

(After  Biological  Survey.) 

with  bursts  of  no  mean  melody, — these  and  other  consider- 
ations have  combined  to  render  the  robin  familiar  to  every 
lover  of  the  out-door  world. 

The  robin  obtains  most  of  its  insect  food  upon  the  ground, 
where  it  searches  diligently  for  cutworms,  white  grubs, 
ground-beetles,  and  allied  creatures.  One  of  the  most 
familiar  sights  of  spring  in  the  Northern  States  is  that  of. 
dozens  of  robins  searching  the  grass  of  lawns  and  meadows 
for  food.  These  birds  are  decidedly  gregarious,  migrating  in 
flocks  of  considerable  size  and  remaining  together  in  the 


90  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

South  during  winter.  Even  during  the  breeding  season  the 
young  birds  and  the  old  males  gather  nightly  to  roost  in  cer- 
tain woods.1 

The  nest  is  so  well  known  that  we  need  here  only  mention 
its  bulky  size  and  the  fact  that  at  least  two  broods  of  four  or 
five  young  each  are  reared  during  the  season. 

Several  studies  of  the  food  of  the  robin  are  on  record. 
One  of  the  most  authoritative  of  these  is  that  of  Professor 
S.  A.  Forbes,  who  made  two  separate  investigations  of  the 
food  in  Illinois :  the  first  included  forty-one  and  the  second 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  specimens.  We  have  summarized 
the  results  in  the  latter  case  as  follows :  Ninety-nine  per 
cent,  of  the  food  of  eleven  robins  shot  in  February  consisted 
of  insects  :  cutworms  and  other  caterpillars  constituted  four- 
teen per  cent.,  and  the  larvae  of  the  white- winged  Bibio 2 — a 
two-winged  fly — seventy-six  per  cent.  These  Bibio  larvae 
have  repeatedly  been  found  in  several  widely  separated 
States  to  form  the  principal  food  of  the  robin  during  spring. 
The  larvae  live  in  colonies  of  a  hundred  or  more  individuals, 
and  generally  feed  upon  decaying  organic  matter,  though 
some  naturalists  have  stated  that  they  are  capable  of  doing 
serious  injury  to  grass-lands.  Professor  Forbes  took  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  Bibio  larvae  from  the  stomach  of  a 
single  robin.  In  addition  to  these  insects  a  very  few  beetles, 
grasshoppers,  bugs,  spiders,  and  thousand-legs  had  been 
eaten.  About  five  per  cent,  of  the  food  was  estimated  to 
consist  of  beneficial  insects. 

Thirty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  nine  March  robins 
consisted  of  Bibio  larvae;  cutworms  and  other  caterpillars 
formed  thirty  per  cent.  The  remaining  food  elements  were 


1  For  an  interesting  account  of  these  little-known  ' '  robin  roosts, ' '  see 
Bradford  Torrey's  book,  "The  Footpath  Way,"  and  Mr.  Brewster's  ac- 
count in  The  Auk,  October,  1890. 

3  Bibio  albipennis,  Say. 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES.  91 

composed  of  scavenger-beetles,  wire-worms,  ground-beetles, 
grasshoppers,  and  sumach-berries.  Six  per  cent,  of  the  food 
was  considered  to  belong  to  beneficial  species  and  thirty- 
seven  per  cent,  to  those  injurious.  In  April  caterpillars 
formed  one-fourth  of  the  food  and  beetles  forty-two  per  cent. 
"  It  is  in  this  month  that  the  bird  makes  its  principal  attack 
upon  the  predaceous  beetles,  which  are  represented  by  an 
average  of  seventeen  per  cent,  eaten  by  eleven  birds."  A 
few  Bibio  larvae,  earthworms,  Orthoptera,  bugs,  and  sumach- 
berries  had  also  been  eaten.  u  The  record  of  May  is  sub- 
stantially a  duplicate  of  the  April  list,  except  in  a  feAV  particu- 
lars. The  Bibio  larvae  are  replaced  by  seven  per  cent,  of 
adult  crane-flies  and  the  ground-beetles  drop  to  four  per 
cent.,  the  balance  being  almost  replaced  by  the  scavenger- 
beetles  and  leaf-chafers.  .  .  .  With  June  the  robin  revolu- 
tionizes his  commissariat.  The  insect  ratios,  which  have 
averaged  ninety-five  per  cent,  during  the  preceding  months, 
now  drop  to  forty-two,  and  remain  at  or  below  this  point  for 
the  rest  of  the  year;  and  this  lack  is  compensated  by  the 
appearance  of  fifty-five  per  cent,  of  cherries  and  raspberries. 
The  loss  falls  chiefly  upon  the  two-winged  flies  and  beetles, 
the  former  dropping  from  eleven  per  cent,  to  less  than  one 
and  the  latter  from  forty-four  per  cent,  to  fifteen.  The  four- 
teen July  birds  were  evidently  revelling  in  the  fruit  garden, 
raspberries,  blackberries,  and  currants  forming  seventy-nine 
per  cent,  of  the  food."  The  partial  disappearance  of  fruit 
supplies  in  August  sent  the  robins  back  to  insects,  although 
the  twenty  birds  taken  during  the  month  had  eaten  fifty-six 
per  cent,  of  fruit.  "  Cherries  made  forty-four  parts  of  the 
food  of  the  month,  eaten  by  fourteen  of  the  birds,  but  two- 
thirds  of  these  cherries  were  wild.  Tame  grapes  made  three 
per  cent,  of  the  food,  berries  of  the  mountain-ash  about  four 
per  cent.,  and  blackberries  from  the  woods  not  far  from  five 
per  cent."  Cutworms,  crickets,  and  grasshoppers  are  impor- 
tant insect  elements  for  the  month.  In  September  fifteen 


92  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

per  cent,  of  winged  ants  were  eaten  and  seventy  per  cent,  of 
fruits,  more  than  half  of  the  fruits  being  grapes  and  the  re- 
mainder berries  of  the  moon-seed  and  mountain-ash.  Dur- 
ing October  and  later  months  large  numbers  of  wild  grapes 
were  eaten. 

Taking  the  year  as  a  whole,  insects  form  almost  two-thirds 
of  the  food  of  the  robin. 

In  the  investigations  of  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  three  hundred  and  thirty  stomachs  of  the  robin 
have  been  examined.  In  the  summary  of  the  results,  by 
Professor  F.  E.  L.  Beal,  it  is  said  that  more  than  forty-two 
per  cent,  of  its  food  consists  of  animal  matter,  chiefly  insects, 
the  rest  being  composed  for  the  most  part  of  small  fruits  and 
berries,  largely  of  wild  sorts.  Noxious  insects  are  believed 
to  constitute  at  least  one-third  of  the  robin's  food,  grasshop- 
pers alone  forming  ten  per  cent,  of  all  the  material  eaten. 
"Vegetable  food  forms  nearly  fifty-eight  per  cent,  of  the 
stomach  contents,  over  forty-seven  per  cent,  being  wild  fruits, 
and  only  a  little  more  than  four  per  cent,  being  possibly  cul- 
tivated varieties.  Cultivated  fruit  amounting  to  about  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  was  found  in  the  stomachs  in  June  and  July, 
but  only  a  trifle  in  August.  Wild  fruit,  on  the  centrary,  is 
eaten  in  every  month  and  constitutes  a  staple  food  during 
half  the  year.  No  less  than  forty-one  species  were  identified 
in  the  stomachs ;  of  these  the  most  important  were  four 
species  of  dogwood,  three  of  wild  grapes,  four  of  greenbrier, 
two  of  holly,  two  of  elder;  and  cranberries,  huckleberries, 
blueberries,  barberries,  service-berries,  hackberries,  and  per- 
simmons, with  four  species  of  sumach  and  various  seeds  not 
strictly  fruit.1' 

Six  robins  shot  in  Nebraska  by  Professor  Aughey  had  eaten 
two  hundred  and  sixty-five  Rocky  Mountain  locusts  and 
eighty-four  other  insects.  In  Wisconsin  Professor  King  exam- 
ined the  stomachs  of  thirty-seven  specimens  taken  during  the 
interval  between  March  and  October.  "  Five  birds  had  eaten 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES.  93 

eleven  cutworms ;  three,  five  wire-worms ;  two,  two  hairy 
caterpillars;  one,  a  hog-caterpillar  of  the  vine;  five,  eight 
scarabaeid  beetles ;  two,  two  curculios ;  one,  a  click-beetle  ; 
one,  an  ichneumon-fly ;  two,  two  spiders  ;  one,  a  millipede ; 
two,  two  angle-worms ;  six,  nine  grasshoppers ;  two,  eight 
grasshopper's  eggs  ;  one,  a  moth  ;  three  (young  birds),  pellets 
of  grass ;  one,  choke-cherries ;  two,  black  cherries ;  one, 
raspberries ;  one,  grapes ;  one,  sheep-berries  ;  and  one,  ber- 
ries of  Indian  turnip." 

A  few  years  ago  we  examined  the  stomach  contents  of  a 
robin  shot  in  Michigan  between  a  row  of  cherry-trees  and 
a  raspberry-patch,  both  with  ripe  fruit.  The  stomach  was 
almost  filled  with  maggots,  apparently  belonging  to  some 
species  of  Anthomyia.  Sixty  of  these  larvae  were  present. 

The  earliest  extended  investigation  of  the  food  of  the  robin 
was  that  made  in  Massachusetts  about  half  a  century  ago  by 
Professor  J.  W.  P.  Jenks.  The  study  was  continued  throughout 
the  year,  and  in  the  main  the  results  obtained  are  very  simi- 
lar to  those  of  Forbes  summarized  above.  Bibio  larvae  formed 
the  principal  food  in  early  spring.  Audubon  states  that  in 
the  South  during  winter  the  robins  feed  on  the  berries  and 
fruits  of  the  holly,  sweet-gum,  gall-berry,  and  pokeweed,  as 
well  as  the  caperia-berry,  wild-orange  berry,  and  the  berries 
of  the  pride  of  India.  The  seeds  of  most  of  the  berry-like 
fruits  which  the  robin  eats  are  not  digested,  and  doubtless 
are  widely  scattered  by  the  birds. 

In  1891  Mr.  E.  V.  Wilcox  examined  the  stomach  contents 
of  nearly  two  hundred  Ohio  robins,  taken  during  April,  May, 
June,  July,  and  August.  uThe  great  majority  of  the  birds 
were  killed  on  the  Ohio  Experiment  Station  grounds,  about 
fifty  being  taken  in  other  parts  of  the  State."  These  grounds 
were  largely  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  cherries,  strawber- 
ries, raspberries,  blackberries,  and  other  fruits.  On  this  ac- 
count it  would  seem  probable  that  the  percentage  of  fruit  eaten 
would  be  greater  than  under  ordinary  field  conditions,  but  the 


94  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

fruit  ratios  are  uniformly  less  than  those  obtained  in  Illinois  by 
Professor  Forbes.  The  results  throughout  are  quite  similar  to 
those  of  the  last-named  investigator.  The  economic  percent- 
ages are  summarized  as  follows  :  Beneficial  species  (plants  and 
animals),  52.4  per  cent. ;  injurious  species,  18.6  per  cent. ; 
neutral  species,  28.9  per  cent.  It  will  be  seen  that  these  are 
much  more  unfavorable  to  the  robin  than  Professor  Forbes's 
results.  The  difference  is  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the 
latter  includes  the  months  of  February,  March,  and  Septem- 
ber in  addition  to  the  months  covered  by  Mr.  Wilcox ;  and 
also  to  the  fact  that  in  Illinois  the  Bibio  larvae  were  considered 
injurious,  while  in  Ohio  they  were  ranked  as  neutral.  While 
these  insects  may  now  confine  themselves  to  decaying  organic 
matter,  it  seems,  from  the  feeding  habits  of  their  allies,  very 
probable  that  were  the  check  the  robin  places  upon  their  in- 
crease removed  they  would  soon  be  compelled  to  resort  to 
living  vegetation  for  at  least  part  of  their  diet,  and  become 
injurious.  Consequently  I  think  the  robin  entitled  to  credit 
for  their  destruction.  The  interesting  point  is  brought  out 
that  "during  the  fruit  season  the  robins  shot  in  the  station 
gardens  were  in  the  proportion  of  nine  young  to  one  old  bird, 
and  that  the  old  birds  took  much  more  insect  food  than  the 
young.  While  the  young  birds  were  feeding  upon  raspberries 
and  other  garden  fruits,  the  old  birds  might  be  found  more 
abundantly  on  newly  mown  meadows  or  in  woodlands." 
Similar  conditions  have  often  been  noticed  in  other  localities. 
To  show  how  omnivorous  a  bird  the  robin  is,  Mr.  Wilcox 
states  that  he  found  in  the  stomachs  examined  "  caterpillars 
of  all  sorts,  from  the  smooth  geometrids,  or  spariworms,  and 
cutworms  to  the  more  hairy  kinds,  such  as  the  walnut  cater- 
pillar (Datana  angusi)  and  even  the  common  brown  caterpillar 
(Pyrrharctia  Isabella).  Coleoptera  of  several  families  were 
noted, — Staphylinidae,  Dermestidae,  Carabidae,  Scarabaeidse, 
Lampyridse,  Elateridse,  Otiorhynchidae,  Curculionidae,  Niti- 
tulidae,  Chrysomelidae,  and  Buprestidae.  There  were  found 


THE    THRUSHES    AND    THEIR    ALLIES.  95 

adult  and  pupal  Hymenoptera,  adult  and  larval  Diptera,  Co- 
leoptera,  and  Lepidoptera,  adult  and  nymphal  Heteroptera, 
Homoptera,  and  Orthoptera,  adult  Neuroptera  (a  small  dragon- 
fly), spiders,  small  snails,  sowbugs,  and  Myriapods."  In  ad- 
dition to  this  animal  food,  "  a  great  majority  of  the  fruits, 
cultivated  and  uncultivated,  which  have  a  juicy  nutritious 
portion  are  included  in  the  dietary  of  the  robin." 

Concerning  the  fruit-eating  proclivities  of  the  robin,  Mr.  W. 
J.  Green,  of  the  Ohio  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  writes : 
"The  capacity  of  the  robin  for  berries  is  enormous,  and 
when  hundreds  come  at  once  the  grower  suffers  serious  losses. 
On  the  station  grounds  nearly  all  of  the  early  raspberries  and 
blackberries  are  taken  by  the  robins,  and  only  in  the  height 
of  the  season  are  there  enough  berries  left  to  give  the  pickers 
a  chance  to  earn  fair  wages.  If  left  to  themselves  the  robins 
would  take  the  greater  share  of  the  black  raspberries  that 
grow  on  a  plantation  of  more  than  an  acre.  Growers  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  have  complained  of  losses  quite  as 
large." 

The  above  accounts  relate  to  the  food  of  the  adult  robins. 
We  have  next  to  consider  that  of  the  nestlings.  Properly  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  the  latter,  we  must  remember 
that  as  far  north  as  Massachusetts  three  broods  of  nestlings 
are  commonly  reared ;  that  from  early  spring  till  late  in  the 
summer  each  pair  of  old  birds  is  engaged  at  least  half  of  the 
time  in  providing  food  for  four,  five,  or  six  ravenous  birdlings  ; 
and  that  each  of  the  latter  probably  requires  more  food  while 
in  the  nest  than  does  one  of  the  adults  during  the  same  period. 
It  seems  to  us  that  the  chief  claim  of  the  robin  upon  man's 
favor  rests  upon  these  facts. 

In  1884  we  examined  the  stomach  contents  of  six  young 
robins  from  Michigan  nests.  The  largest  single  element  of 
the  food  consisted  of  cutworms  and  related  caterpillars,  which 
formed  twenty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  total  dietary.  Among 
other  insects  present  were  seven  per  cent,  of  beetles,  includ- 


96  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

ing  curculios  and  ground-beetles,  and  various  undetermined 
species.  There  were  also  present  twenty  per  cent,  of  earth- 
worms, one  per  cent,  of  snails,  three  per  cent,  of  myriapods, 
and  about  thirty  per  cent,  of  grass  blades.  The  latter  seem 
almost  always  to  be  found  in  the  stomachs  of  nestling  robins ; 
they  may  be  introduced  accidentally  with  the  cutworms  or 
possibly  may  have  a  dietetic  value. 

The  food  of  fourteen  nestlings  examined  by  Beal  consisted 
of  caterpillars,  locusts,  grasshoppers,  crickets,  and  beetles,  with 
a  few  spiders,  snails,  and  earthworms,  and  seven  per  cent,  of 
berries  of  various  kinds. 

Professor  King  found  the  stomachs  of  three  Wisconsin 
nestlings  to  contain  wire-worms,  white  grubs,  caterpillars, 
beetles,  small  seeds,  and  grass.  Dr.  T.  M.  Brewer  watched 
the  feeding  of  a  set  of  young  robins  near  his  house,  uand, 
so  far  as  they  were  seen,  the  nestlings  were  fed  until  they  left 
their  nest  entirely  with  the  moths  of  the  family  Agrotiidae 
or  subterranean  caterpillars,  commonly  known  as  cutworms." 
We  suspect  he  meant  to  write  the  Iarva9  of  the  moths,  instead 
of  the  moths  themselves,  although  it  is  known  that  the  latter 
are  sometimes  fed  to  the  young. 

In  his  admirable  account  of  the  nesting  habits  of  the  robin,1 
Professor  Herrick  states  that  the  young  are  fed  with  grasshop- 
pers, crickets,  katydids,  and  angle- worms,  as  well  as  such  fruits 
as  choke-cherries,  blueberries,  and  raspberries.  Evidently  for 
the  nestlings,  as  for  themselves,  robins  take  the  kind  of  food 
that  is  most  abundant.  Years  ago  Wilson  Flagg  watched  a  pair 
nesting  near  his  house.  They  were  rearing  u  a  second  brood 
in  the  month  of  July,  when  the  soil  was  so  greatly  parched 
by  drought  that  if  robins  lived  only  on  berries  and  earthworms 
they  must  have  starved  to  death.  I  had  often  seen  the  birds 
at  a  distance  pecking  vigorously  upon  the  sward  and  then 
drawing  out  a  worm.  I  knew  that  there  were  at  this  time  no 

1  Home  Life  of  Wild  Birds,  chap.  iv. 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES.  97 

earthworms  ne.ar  enough  the  surface  to  be  within  the  reach 
even  of  the  long-billed  snipes.  But  when  the  bird  was  near 
enough  I  could  distinctly  see,  by  the  form  and  appendages  of 
the  creature,  that  it  was  invariably  a  cutworm  of  a  large 
species  and  of  an  olive-green  color.  The  female  bird  was  most 
industrious.  She  would  carry  off  one  of  these  grubs  as  often 
as  once  in  five  minutes,  whenever  I  watched  her  movements, 
and  very  often  she  would  have  two  in  her  bill  at  a  time.  One 
day  close  under  my  window,  I  saw  her  bear  off  three  cut- 
worms at  once,  all  of  which  were  taken  before  my  sight  in  a 
space  about  a  rod  square." 

The  robin  appears  to  be  one  of  the  birds  that  thrives  fully 
as  well  under  the  conditions  of  modern  agriculture  as  when 
the  soil  was  owned  by  the  red  man.  A  knowledge  of  its  feed- 
ing habits  would  lead  one  to  expect  this.  In  many  localities 
it  is  believed  that  these  birds  are  now  more  numerous  than 
in  earlier  times.  On  the  whole,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it 
is  an  eminently  useful  bird,  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  too 
often  the  fruit-grower  alone  has  to  pay  heavily  for  services 
rendered  to  the  community  at  large.  In  concluding  his  dis- 
cussion of  an  elaborate  investigation  of  the  food  of  adult 
robins,  Professor  Forbes  expresses  his  belief  that  the  horti- 
culturist cannot  "  sell  his  small  fruits  anywhere  in  the  ordi- 
nary markets  of  the  world  at  so  high  a  price  as  to  the  robin, 
provided  he  uses  proper  diligence  that  the  little  huckster 
does  not  overreach  him  in  the  bargain.1'  If  this  is  true  when 
the  food  of  the  adult  alone  is  considered,  it  is  much  more  so 
when  the  food  of  the  nestlings  is  also  taken  into  account. 
Nevertheless,  we  believe  the  fruit-grower  should  be  allowed 
to  protect  his  crops  when  necessary,  doing  so  in  such  a  way 
as  to  accomplish  the  greatest  results  with  the  least  expen- 
diture of  robin  life.  But  the  indiscriminate  destruction  of 
the  birds  for  food,  "sport,"  or  millinery  purposes  should 
be  stopped,  and  the  robbing  of  the  nests  should  be  properly 
punished. 

7 


98  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

THE    CAT-BIRD. 

While  the  cat-bird  in  most  localities  is  much  less  abundant 
than  the  robin,  it  is  almost  as  well  known.  It  is  a  shyer 
species,  commonly  haunting  shrubbery  and  underbrush  in 
clearings  and  along  running  streams.  It  is  a  migrant  and 
rarely  winters  very  far  north.  The  food  of  seventy  Illinois 
specimens,  shot  during  May,  June,  July,  August,  and  Septem- 
ber, was  studied  by  Professor  Forbes.  Insects  formed  eighty- 
three  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  twenty-two  May  examples : 
the  remainder  consisted  of  spiders,  myriapods,  and  sumach- 
berries.  "  Among  the  insects  were  about  equal  ratios  of  ants, 
crane-flies,  and  beetles,  the  first  composing  eighteen  per  cent, 
of  the  food,  the  second  nineteen,  and  the  third  twenty-three. 
Caterpillars  formed  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  food,  and  about 
one-sixth  of  these  were  distinctly  recognizable  as  cutworms. 
More  than  one-third  of  the  beetles  were  Carabidae,  including 
specimens  of  Platynus  and  Harpalus  pennsylvanicus"  Four 
per  cent,  of  Orthoptera  were  present,  there  being  specimens 
of  the  snowy  tree-cricket,  grasshoppers,  and  young  walking- 
sticks.  u  During  the  first  part  of  June  large  numbers  of  ants 
and  crane-flies  were  again  eaten.  Many  May-beetles  were 
also  taken.  During  the  last  half  of  the  month  these  insects 
were  largely  replaced  by  cherries,  currants,  raspberries,  and 
strawberries."  Three-fourths  of  the  food  of  eleven  July  cat- 
birds consisted  of  small  fruits,  mostly  (sixty-four  per  cent.) 
blackberries.  Nine  per  cent,  of  beetles  had  been  taken,  most 
of  them  being  predaceous.  u  It  is  clear  that  the  cat-bird  in 
midsummer  eats  only  such  insects  as  come  in  its  way  while 
regaling  itself  on  the  smaller  fruits.11 

44  The  food-record  of  August  resembles  that  of  June,  owing 
doubtless  to  the  diminution  of  the  smaller  garden  fruits  at 
this  time  and  to  the  fact  that  the  wild  fruits  have  not  yet 
come  into  bearing.  The  insect  percentages  are  therefore 
much  larger  than  in  July,  and  it  is  instructive  to  notice  that 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES.  99 

this  increase  is  first  apparent  and  most  evident  in  the  ratios 
of  ants,  an  indication  of  the  positive  preference  of  the  cat- 
bird for  this  food.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  forty-six  per  cent, 
of  insects  eaten  this  month  were  ants."  Among  the  beetles 
eaten  was  one  striped  cucumber-beetle,  and  among  the  bugs 
were  a  few  chinch-bugs.  Blackberries  formed  the  staple  fruit 
element.  During  the  first  half  of  September  cherries,  wild 
fruits,  and  grapes  formed  seventy-six  per  cent,  of  the  food. 
The  final  percentages  of  the  food  for  the  five  months  are : 
beneficial,  forty-one;  injurious,  fifteen;  neutral,  forty-four. 

Five  cat-birds  examined  in  Nebraska  by  Aughey  had  eaten 
one  hundred  and  fifty-two  Rocky  Mountain  locusts.  Twenty- 
five  specimens  shot  during  May  in  the  Illinois  orchard  where 
canker-worms  were  at  work,  and  studied  by  Professor  Forbes, 
had  eaten  fifteen  per  cent,  of  canker-worms.  This  author 
also  reports  having  seen  cat-birds  u  busily  scooping  out  the 
fairest  side  of  the  ripest  early  apples,  unsurpassed  in  skill  and 
industry  at  this  employment  by  the  red-headed  woodpecker 
or  the  blue-jay." 

Evidently  there  is  room  for  improvement  in  the  economic 
status  of  the  adult  cat-bird.  But  the  dietary  sins  of  the 
parents  are  largely  atoned  for  by  the  food  of  the  young.  In 
1884  we  examined  the  stomach  contents  of  three  Michigan 
nestlings  of  this  species  :  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  food  con- 
sisted of  insects ;  two  per  cent,  of  spiders ;  and  three  per 
cent,  of  Myriapods.  Sixty-two  per  cent,  of  the  food  con- 
sisted of  cutworms ;  eleven  per  cent,  of  ground-beetles ;  four 
per  cent,  of  grasshoppers  ;  three  per  cent,  of  May-flies,  and 
two  per  cent,  of  dragon-flies.  The  large  proportion  of  cut- 
worms strongly  favors  the  usefulness  of  the  species.  Pro- 
fessor Herrick's  observations l  show  that  dragon-flies,  caught 
just  as  they  emerge  from  the  nymph  state,  are  commonly  fed 
the  nestlings,  as  are  also  "  insect  larvae,  beetles,  moths,  millers, 

1  Home  Life  of  Wild  Birds,  chap.  viii. 


100  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

and  a  great  variety  of  smaller  insects,  varied  with  liberal 
courses  of  strawberries."  Fourteen  nestlings  studied  by  Judd 
had  eaten  but  four  per  cent,  of  fruit,  their  diet  being  chiefly 
ants,  beetles,  caterpillars,  spiders,  and  grasshoppers. 

While  the  cat-bird  by  no  means  deserves  the  cruel  and 
senseless  persecution  it  too  often  receives,  it  seems  to  us  that 
the  fruit-grower  should  be  allowed  to  protect  himself  from 
ruinous  injury  by  it.  We  have  no  doubt  that,  on  the  whole, 
the  benefit  which  it  does  is  much  greater  than  the  harm, 
and  its  destruction  should  never  be  permitted  except  when 
necessary  to  save  precious  crops.  Professor  F.  E.  L.  Beal  be- 
lieves that  u  cultivated  fruits  can  be  protected  from  the  cat-bird 
by  the  simple  expedient  of  planting  wild  species  or  others 
which  are  preferred  by  the  birds."  Dr.  Judd  has  shown  that 
Russian  mulberries  are  preferred  to  cherries  by  these  birds. 

OTHER    THRUSHES. 

Every  farmer's  boy  in  the  Middle  States  has  heard  the  song 
of  the  BROWN  THRUSH  or  THRASHER.  In  many  respects  its 
vocal  powers  excel  those  of  any  of  the  northern  birds  that  are 
known  by  every  body.  It  is  a  shy  creature,  haunting  shrub- 
bery and  underbrush  and  skulking  away  on  the  approach  of 
man.  When  scratching  the  dry  leaves  or  running  over  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  the  rustling  noise  it  makes  is  sur- 
prising :  in  the  palmetto  brush  of  southern  Florida  we  have 
often  been  led  to  think  some  larger  animal  was  present.  It  is 
a  regular  migrant,  breeding  in  the  north  and  wintering  south. 

We  are  indebted  to  Professor  Forbes  for  quite  a  full  knowl- 
edge of  the  food  of  the  brown  thrush.  Two  separate  inves- 
tigations were  made,  the  first  including  twenty-eight  birds 
shot  in  Illinois  during  April,  May,  June,  and  July,  and  the 
second  sixty-four  specimens  covering  the  six  months  from 
April  to  September.  The  feeding  habits  for  this  time  are  thus 
recapitulated. 

uThe  brown  thrush,  arriving  in  April,  finds  nearly  one- 


• 
THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR   ALLIES.  101 

half  of  its  food  in  fragments  of  corn  and  other  grains  and  seeds 
picked  from  the  droppings  of  animals.  This  curious  habit  it 
maintains  throughout  the  year,  evidently  taking  this  food 
from  preference  as  well  as  from  necessity.  In  fact,  I  have 
often  found  these  vegetable  fragments  associated  with  black- 
berries in  the  food.  After  April  this  element  averages  about 
sixteen  per  cent,  throughout  the  season.  Insects  amount  to 
about  half  the  food  for  each  month,  except  in  May,  when 


THE   BROWN  THRUSH. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

they  rise  to  three-fourths,  and  in  July,  when  they  drop  to 
one-fourth.  The  excess  in  May  occurs  at  the  time  of  the 
greatest  number  and  activity  of  the  beetles,  and  the  diminu- 
tion in  July  coincides  with  the  period  of  the  greatest  abun- 
dance of  the  small  fruits.  One-half  the  insects  eaten  are 
beetles,  which  stand  at  one-fourth  of  the  food  in  April  and 
June,  rise  to  one-half  in  May,  and  fall  to  about  one-eighth  in 
July  and  August.  Half  the  beetles  of  the  year  are  Scara- 
baeidae,  chiefly  June-beetles  and  Euryoma,  all  taken  previous 
to  July.  Nearly  one-fourth  of  the  beetles  are  Carabidae, 
which  remain  at  about  five  per  cent,  of  the  food,  except  in 
May,  when  they  rise  to  ten  per  cent.  Although  the  ratios 


102 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


of  spring-beetles  and  snont-beetles  are  but  two  per  cent.,  the 
numbers  eaten  are  of  some  significance.  My  notes  show  that 
these  birds  were  eating  each  at  the  daily  rate  of  one  and  one- 
half  curculios,  and  consequently  had  averaged  a  total  of  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  to  each  thrush  for  the  season.  The 
brown  thrush  takes  ants  more  freely  than  the  robin,  but  eats 
comparatively  few  caterpillars ;  seven  per  cent,  of  each  were 
found  in  the  food  of  the  year.  Diptera  are  taken  in  very 
trivial  quantity  and  Hemiptera  in  moderate  numbers  only. 


BOLL- WORM. 

a,  6,  eggs,  side  view  and  top  view,  magnified  ;  c,  larva  ;  t/,  pupa,  in  cocoon  ;  e,  moth  with  wings 
expanded  ;  /,  moth  with  wings  closed.     ( After  Biley. ) 

This  bird  eats  thousand-legs  mere  freely  than  the  robin,  espe- 
cially in  early  spring.  In  the  garden  it  plays  a  part  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  other  thrushes,  but  is  less  mischievous, 
on  the  whole.  Its  average  of  the  edible  fruits  for  June, 
July,  and  August  is  thirty-eight  per  cent.,  as  against  sixty  per 
cent,  of  the  robin  and  forty-nine  per  cent,  of  the  cat-bird. 
It  relishes  the  whole  list  of  garden  fruits,  and  later  in  the 
season  resorts  to  the  wild  fruits  of  the  woods  and  thickets." 


THE   THRUSHES   AND   THEIR    ALLIES.  103 

The  nestlings  of  this  species  are  fed  upon  spiders  and 
insects,  especially  the  various  grasshoppers  and  caterpillars. 

The  famous  MOCKING-BIRD,  whose  music  is  to  Americans 
much  what  that  of  the  nightingale  is  to  Europeans,  is  com- 
monly found  in  the  Southern  States.  As  a  rule,  it  is  rare 
north  of  latitude  40.  Its  food  appears  to  be  much  like  that  of 
the  other  thrushes,  consisting  of  about  equal  proportions  of 
insects  and  various  wild  and  cultivated  fruits.  The  young 
appear  to  be  fed  chiefly  upon  insects,  among  which  the  moth 
of  the  cotton-boll-worm  deserves  special  mention. 

In  the  North  the  WOOD-THRUSH  is  the  most  famous  songster 
of  its  family.  It  is  common,  but  not  abundant,  in  most  of  the 
Eastern  States,  north  to  New  England.  It  is  usually  a  shy  bird, 
haunting  woodland  shrubbery,  but  there  are  indications  that 
it  is  becoming  more  familiar  with  man,  and  there  seems  good 
reason  for  hoping  that  in  time  it  will  be  much  more  com- 
monly seen  upon  the  home  grounds.  Professor  Forbes's 
studies  of  the  food  of  twenty-two  Illinois  birds  show  that  it  is 
one  of  the  most  useful  of  the  thrushes,  eating  large  numbers 
of  injurious  insects  and  comparatively  little  fruit.  One  speci- 
men had  stuffed  itself  with  rose-beetles  (Macrodadylus  sub- 
spinosus)  and  others  had  eaten  large  numbers  of  ants  and 
crane-flies.  Insects  as  a  whole  formed  seventy-one  per  cent, 
of  the  food.  Of  course  every  one  is  eager  to  encourage  the 
advances  of  this  beautiful  songster. 

The  economic  relations  of  the  other  thrushes — such  as  the 
HERMIT,  ALICE,  or  SWAINSON'S — appear  to  be  very  similar  to 
those  of  the  wood-thrush.  The  hermit  is  credited — or  rather 
debited — with  the  destruction  of  many  predaceous  beetles 
during  its  northward  migration,  and  the  other  two  species 
mentioned  are  unusually  fond  of  ants  and  caterpillars. 

In  summarizing  the  food  of  the  family  of  thrushes  as  it 
occurs  in  Illinois,  Professor  Forbes  says :  "  Sixty-one  per 
cent,  of  the  food  consists  of  insects,  one  per  cent,  of  spiders, 
two  per  cent,  of  Myriapods,  and  thirty-two  per  cent,  of  fruits, 


104  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

eleven  per  cent,  being  blackberries,  eight  per  cent,  cherries, 
one  per  cent,  currants,  and  five  per  cent,  grapes.  Thirty 
parts  of  the  food  consist  of  injurious  insects  and  eight  parts 
of  beneficial  species,  while  twenty-six  parts  consist  of  edible 
fruits."  This,  however,  refers  only  to  the  adult  birds,  the 
food  of  the  young  not  being  sufficiently  known  to  be  included 
in  the  estimate.  All  the  observations  on  record  indicate 
that  the  nestlings  of  thrushes  are  fed  upon  insects,  especially 
smooth  caterpillars  like  the  cutworms,  so  that  there  is  little 
doubt  that  this  factor  would  largely  increase  the  already  con- 
clusive evidence  as  to  the  great  value  of  this  splendid  family. 

The  charming  little  kinglets  of  the  family  Sylviidce  are  among 
the  most  delightful  of  the  pygmy  birds.  They  frequent  the  tops 
of  tall  trees  so  constantly  that  they  are  seldom  seen  by  most 
people.  Two  species  are  rather  common  in  our  Northern 
States,  the  GOLDEN-CROWNED  and  the  RUBY-CROWNED  KINGLETS. 
Both  are  insectivorous  in  their  feeding  habits. 


THE  GOLDEN-CROWNED   KINGLET. 


CHAPTER    IX. 
THE   NUTHATCHES,  TITMICE,   CREEPERS,   AND   WRENS. 


THE    NUTHATCHES. 


THE  nuthatches  (Sittince)  comprise  a  small  group  of  creeping 
birds  which  inhabit  woodlands  chiefly,  although  they  often 
visit  trees  in  orchards  and  groves  or  along  the  highway. 
Most  of  their  food  consists  of  insects  gathered  from  the  bark 
of  trees,  but  part  of  it  is  composed  of  seeds  of  various  kinds. 
They  are  compact  flattened  birds,  with  plumage  of  modest 
colors  and  hard  barbed  and  pointed  tongues.  Four  species 
and  one  variety  occur  in  the  United  States,  a  common  form 
in  the  Northeast  being  the  WHITE-BREASTED  NUTHATCH,  which  in 
the  Middle  and  Western  States  is  replaced  by  a  variety  with  a 
more  slender  bill.  This  bird  is  frequently  abundant  in  wood- 
lands, and  moves  actively  about  over  trunks  and  branches  in 
search  of  food.  Professor  King  examined  the  stomach  con- 
tents of  twenty-five  Wisconsin  specimens,  and  found  that 
fourteen  of  them  had  eaten  beetles,  including  elaters  and 
longicorns,  while  others  contained  ants,  caterpillars,  and  beetle- 
grubs,  a  spider  and  a  chrysalis,  a  few  small  toadstools,  some 
acorns,  and  a  little  corn.  Four  Illinois  specimens  had  eaten 
beetles  of  various  kinds,  some  of  them  being  lady-beetles. 

The  food  of  this  species  in  winter  and  spring  was  made 
the  subject  of  a  special  study  by  Professor  E.  D.  San- 
derson. u  During  the  winter  the  larger  proportion  of  the 
food  was  composed  of  seeds,  which  gradually  decreased  as 
insect  life  became  more  abundant."  Seeds  of  Indian  corn, 
ragweed,  and  wild  sunflowers  were  recognized;  the  insects 
were  largely  in  egg  or  larval  stages.  In  spring  nearly  eighty 
per  cent,  of  the  food  consisted  of  insects,  chiefly  adults.  No 
traces  of  acorns  were  found  in  the  stomachs  examined.  From 

105 


106  BIRDS   IN   THEIR  RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

these  studies  Professor  Sanderson  reaches  the  conclusion  that 
this  species  is  "  either  absolutely  neutral  or  of  comparatively 
small  economic  importance," — a  conclusion  which,  it  seems 
to  us,  is  by  no  means  warranted  by  his  results.  During  the 
spring,  he  writes,  "  Hymenoptera  were  found  in  considerable 
numbers,  all  being  beneficial"  Probably  it  fe  on  this  account 
that  the  usefulness  of  the  birds  is  doubted.  But  we  believe, 
as  indicated  in  Chapter  VI.,  that  investigators  err  in  saying 
that  all  parasitic  insects  are  beneficial. 

The  nest  of  this  bird  is  built  in  a  hole  in  a  tree,  the  cavity 
being  sometimes  excavated  by  the  nuthatch  and  sometimes 
by  another  bird  or  a  falling  limb.  The  rapid  destruction  of 
forests  and  the  thinning  out  of  dead  trees  in  orchards  and 
woodlands  must  reduce  the  available  nesting  sites  and  thus- 
tend  to  lessen  the  numbers  of  the  nuthatches.  There  is 
some  reason  for  supposing  that  if  suitable  artificial  nesting 
places  were  provided  in  orchards  these  birds  would  breed  in 
them.  It  is  an  experiment  well  worth  trying. 

The  RED-BREASTED  or  CANADA  NUTHATCH  is  much  rarer  than 
the  last-named  species  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States, 
although  the  two  birds  seem  to  be  very  similar  in  their  feed- 
ing habits.  It  breeds  in  holes  and  stumps,  and  feeds  on 
beetles,  ants,  and  other  small  insects.  In  Nebraska  it  has 
been  seen  eating  young  grasshoppers. 

THE    TITMICE. 

The  titmice,  or  chickadees,  which  with  the  nuthatches  and 
wren-tits  form  the  family  Paridae,  are  represented  in  North 
America  by  nearly  a  score  of  species  and  varieties,  the  great 
majority  of  which,  however,  are  rare  or  only  locally  distrib- 
uted. The  common  CHICKADEE,  or  BLACK-CAPPED  TITMOUSE,  is 
much  the  most  familiar  species  in  the  Eastern  States,  remain- 
ing with  us  throughout  the  year.  It  takes  a  great  variety 
of  food,  gleaning  through  the  winter  from  the  bark  and 
twigs  of  both  deciduous  and  evergreen  trees,  and  in  summer 


NUTHATCHES,  TITMICE,  CREEPERS,  AND   WRENS.      107 

devouring  insects  of  many  kinds.  In  a  canker-worm  infested 
orchard  sixty-one  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  two  chickadees  con- 
sisted of  these  caterpillars,  while  injurious  beetles  constituted 
the  remainder. 

In  a  recent  investigation  of  the  winter  food  of  the  chick- 
adee, we  studied1  the  stomach  contents  of  forty-one  speci- 
mens taken  during  November,  December,  January,  February, 
and  March.  The  results  as  a  whole  show  that  more  than 
half  of  the  food  of  the  chick- 
adees during  winter  consists 
of  insects,  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  which  are  taken 
in  the  form  of  eggs.  About 
five  per  cent,  of  the  stomach 
contents  consisted  of  spiders 
or  their  eggs.  Vegetation  of 
various  sorts  made  up  a  little 
less  than  a  quarter  of  the 
food,  two-thirds  of  which, 
however,  consisted  of  buds 
and  bud-scales  that  were  be- 
lieved to  have  been  accidentally  introduced  with  plant-lice 
eggs.  These  eggs  made  up  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  entire 
food  and  formed  the  most  remarkable  element  of  the  bill 
of  fare.  This  destruction  of  the  myriads  of  eggs  of  plant- 
lice  which  infest  the  fruit,  shade,  and  forest  trees  is  probably 
the  most  important  service  the  chickadee  renders  during  its 
winter  residence.  More  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  eggs 
sometimes  occur  as  the  food  of  one  bird  in  a  single  day. 
On  the  supposition  that  one  hundred  were  eaten  daily  by 
each  of  a  flock  of  ten  chickadees,  there  would  be  destroyed 
one  thousand  a  day,  or  one  hundred  thousand  during  the 
days  of  winter,  a  number  which  we  believe  to  be  far  below 


THE  CHICKADEE,   OR  BLACK-CAPPED 
TITMOUSE. 


1  New  Hampshire  College  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  Bull.  54. 


108  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

the  actual  average,  could  we  determine  it  precisely.  Insects1 
eggs  of  many  other  kinds  were  found  in  the  food  of  the  chick- 
adee ;  many  of  these  it  was  impossible  to  recognize,  but  there 
was  no  difficulty  in  identifying  the  eggs  of  the  common  Ameri- 
can tent  caterpillar  and  of  the  fall  canker-worm,  the  eggs 
of  which  remain  upon  the  trees  through  the  winter.  There 
were  also  present  the  eggs  and  egg-sacs  of  many  spiders  of 
kinds  commonly  occurring  under  loose  bark.  While  spiders 
as  a  class  are  doubtless  beneficial  creatures,  the  destruction 
of  some  of  them  is  not  in  our  opinion  seriously  detrimental  to 
the  usefulness  of  the  chickadee.  The  larvae  of  several  differ- 
ent kinds  of  moths  were  also  found.  One  of  the  most  abun- 
dant species  was  believed  to  be  the  common  apple-worm,  the 
larvae  of  the  codling  moth.  The  bark-beetles  of  the  family 
Scolytidae,  which  are  destructive  to  forests  all  over  our  coun- 
try, were  also  freely  eaten  by  the  chickadees.  The  hairy 
skins  of  the  fruits  of  the  common  wild  sumachs  were  among 
the  most  abundant  elements  of  the  vegetable  food  present. 
The  edible  portion  of  these  fruits  is  evidently  eaten  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  throughout  the  winter  and  early  spring.  An- 
other common  element  of  the  food  appears  to  consist  of  the 
curious  little  fruits  of  the  bayberry  or  waxberry  myrtle — an 
abundant  shrub  along  the  sea-coast.  In  winter  chickadees 
have  been  observed  to  hide  away  surplus  food,  to  eat  at  a 
later  time. 

A  careful  study  of  the  food  of  the  chickadee  in  Michigan 
has  also  been  made  by  Professor  E.  D.  Sanderson,  with  re- 
sults very  similar  to  those  recorded  above.  As  an  indication 
of  the  usefulness  of  these  birds,  he  writes  :  "If  fifty-five  in- 
sects were  consumed  per  day  by  each  bird,  as  will  be  shown 
to  be  the  case,  three  hundred  and  eighty-five  would  be  con- 
sumed per  day  by  a  flock  of  seven,  which  is  believed  to  be  a 
fair  average  for  each  square  mile :  this  would  be  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hundred  per  year  in 
each  square  mile.  Thus  upon  the  land  surface  of  Michigan 


NUTHATCHES,  TITMICE,  CREEPERS,  AND   WRENS.       109 

there  will  annually  be  about  eight  thousand  million  insects 
destroyed  by  chickadees  alone.     Surely  no  mean  number." 

The  closely  related  LONG-TAILED  CHICKADEE  of  the  Western 
States  feeds  largely  upon  grasshoppers  when  the  latter  are 
abundant.  The  CAROLINA  TITMOUSE  of  the  Southern  States 
appears  to  have  food-habits  similar  to  those  of  its  northern 
representative,  except  that  through  the  winter  months  it 
doubtless  finds  a  larger  percentage  of  insect  food. 

THE    CREEPERS. 

The  small  family  of  creepers  (Certhiidce),  of  which  only 
about  a  dozen  species  are  known  in  the  entire  world,  has  but 
one  representative  in  the  United  States.  These  birds  in 
outward  appearance  and  habits  are  suggestive  of  the  wood- 
peckers. They  have  rigid  tail-feathers  and  a  slender  de- 
curved  bill,  with  toes  adapted  to  running  up  the  sides  of 
trees. 

The  BROWN  CREEPER  is  the  common  American  representa- 
tive of  this  family.  It  is  a  small  bird,  very  restless  and  active, 
which  may  often  be  seen  by  bird-lovers  going  in  spirals  up 
tree  trunks,  but  never  hanging  head  downward  like  the  nut- 
hatches. It  nests  behind  loose  bark  on  the  trunks  of  trees, 
and  in  most  of  the  Northern  States  may  be  found  through- 
out the  year.  Very  few  precise  determinations  of  its  food 
have  been  made :  three  stomachs  examined  by  King  contained 
small  beetles  and  other  insects,  and  Nelson  reports  that  he 
has  seen  several  of  these  creepers  on  the  sides  of  a  house 
searching  for  spiders.  In  June,  1895,  Aughey  saw  two  parent 
birds  bring  to  a  nest  of  young  twenty-seven  locusts  in  an 
hour.  In  Maryland,  Judd  found  that  one  bird  had  eaten 
beetles,  sawflies,  flying  ants,  spiders,  and  seeds  of  the  scrub 
pine. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  is  a  very  useful  little  bird, 
deserving  all  possible  encouragement. 


110 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


THE    WRENS. 

The  elegant  little  wrens,  in  their  suits  of  brown  and  drab, 
belong  to  a  small  family  (Troglodytidce)  of  highly  insectivo- 
rous birds.  The  saucy  HOUSE- WREN  is  much  the  most  familiar 
representative.  It  occurs  throughout  the  United  States,  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  the  western  being  considered  a 


THE  HOUSE-WEEN. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


distinct  geographical  race.  In  the  Northern  States  it  is  migra- 
tory, spending  the  winter  in  the  South.  It  nests  about  barns 
and  dwellings  in  almost  any  situation,  and  is  easily  encour- 
aged by  putting  up  nesting-boxes.  The  house-wren  is  a  very 
useful  bird  to  have  searching  constantly  for  insects  in  the 
shrubbery  of  the  ornamental  grounds,  the  trees  of  the  orchard, 
or  the  vines  of  the  garden.  Its  diet  appears  to  be  exclusively 
insectivorous ;  including  on  its  bill  of  fare  larv«  and  caterpil- 
lars of  many  kinds,  as  well  as  ants,  grasshoppers,  gnats,  bee- 
tles, bugs,  spiders,  and  myriapods.  Professor  Aughey  repeat- 


NUTHATCHES,  TITMICE,  CREEPERS,   AND   WRENS.       HI 

edly  observed  both  this  and  other  wrens  carrying  young 
locusts  to  their  nestlings.  Nearly  half  the  food  of  several 
specimens  shot  in  an  orchard  infested  by  canker-worms  con- 
sisted of  these  pests.  Fifty-two  stomachs  were  examined  at 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  the  record  show- 
ing "  that  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  stomach  contents  was 
made  up  of  insects  or  their  allies,  and  only  two  per  cent,  was 
vegetable,  including  bits  of  grass  and  similar  matter,  evidently 
taken  by  accident  with  the  insects.  Half  of  their  food  con- 
sisted of  grasshoppers  and  beetles ;  the  remainder,  of  cater- 
pillars, bugs,  and  spiders." 

The  house- wren  is  accused,1  apparently  on  good  evidence, 
of  sometimes  pecking  hole's  in  the  eggs  of  chipping-sparrows 
and  throwing  them  out  of  the  nest.  Probably  this  is  a  special 
habit  of  certain  birds,  due  to  unusual  conditions,  although  it 
may  well  lead  bird-lovers  to  watch  the  wrens  to  see  how 
general  it  is. 

A  mother  wren  observed  by  Judd  made  one  hundred  and 
ten  visits  to  her  nest  in  feeding  her  young  in  four  hours  and 
thirty-seven  minutes,  feeding  them  one  hundred  and  eleven 
insects  and  spiders. 

Two  species  of  MARSH-WRENS  are  common  in  the  United 
States,  the  long-billed  and  the  short-billed.  They  especially 
haunt  swampy  ground,  the  former  building  an  enormous  glob- 
ular nest  among  the  reeds.  Both  species  feed  upon  insects, 
spiders,  and  snails.  Of  fourteen  Wisconsin  specimens  of  the 
long-billed  marsh-wren,  one  had  eaten  "  one  ant ;  one,  a  cat- 
erpillar ;  one,  three  beetles ;  three,  three  moths ;  one,  a  small 
grasshopper ;  one,  five  grasshoppers'  eggs ;  one,  a  dragon-fly ; 
and  one,  a  small  snail."  (King.)  Five  Maryland  specimens 
had  eaten  spiders,  beetles,  bugs,  leaf-hoppers,  flies,  four-winged 
parasites,  and  ants,  the  first  two  forming  the  major  portion  of 
the  food. 

1  Bird  Lore,  ii.  90. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    WARBLERS    AND    THE    VIREOS. 
THE    WOOD    WARBLERS,    OR    AMERICAN    WARBLERS. 

THE  beautiful-plumaged  American  warblers  (Mniotiltidce) 
form  next  to  the  largest  family  of  our  native  birds.  Nearly  all 
of  them  are  small.  As  a  group  they  are  abundant  and  widely 
distributed,  migratory,  and  insectivorous.  In  many  species 
the  plumage  varies  greatly  with  the  age  and  sex.  There  are 
about  sixty  North  American  representatives  of  the  family. 
uWith  tireless  industry  do  the  warblers  befriend  the  human 
race,1'  writes  Dr.  Elliott  Coues ;  "  their  unconscious  zeal  plays 
due  part  in  the  nice  adjustment  of  nature's  forces,  helping  to 
bring  about  that  balance  of  vegetable  and  insect  life  without 
which  agriculture  would  be  in  vain.  They  visit  the  orchard 
when  the  apple  and  pear,  the  peach,  plum,  and  cherry  are  in 
bloom,  seeming  to  revel  carelessly  amid  the  sweet-scented 
and  delicately  tinted  blossoms,  but  never  faltering  in  their 
good  work.  They  peer  into  the  crevices  of  the  bark,  scruti- 
nize each  leaf,  and  explore  the  very  heart  of  the  buds  to 
detect,  drag  forth,  and  destroy  these  tiny  creatures,  singly  in- 
significant, collectively  a  scourge,  which  prey  upon  the  hopes 
of  the  fruit-grower,  and  which  if  undisturbed  would  bring  his 
care  to  naught.  Some  warblers  flit  incessantly  in  the  terminal 
foliage  of  the  tallest  trees ;  others  hug  close  to  the  scored 
trunks  and  gnarled  boughs  of  the  forest  kings ;  some  peep 
from  the  thicket,  the  coppice,  the  impenetrable  mantle  of 
shrubbery  that  decks  tiny  water-courses,  playing  at  hide  and 
seek  with  all  comers ;  others,  more  humble  still,  descend  to 
the  ground,  where  they  glide,  with  pretty,  mincing  steps  and 
affected  turning  of  the  head  this  way  and  that,  their  delicate 
112 


THE   WARBLERS   AND   THE   VIREOS.  113 

flesh-tinted  feet  just  stirring  the  layer  of  withered  leaves  with 
which  a  past  season  carpeted  the  ground." 

The  BLACK  AND  WHITE  CREEPING  WARBLER,  sometimes  called 
the  black  and  white  creeper,  is  abundant  in  most  wooded 
portions  of  eastern  America,  extending  westward  to  Dakota 
and  Nebraska.  It  resembles  the  creepers  and  nuthatches  in 
its  manner  of  taking  food,  searching  every  cranny  and  crevice 
of  the  bark  of  trees  for  the  insects  sheltered  there,  occasion- 
ally chasing  for  short  distances  moths  or  other  creatures 
frightened  from  their  hiding-places ;  and  sometimes  scruti- 
nizing the  foliage,  like  other  warblers.  The  nest  is  placed  on 
or  near  the  ground,  very  often  on  a  rocky  ledge.  Four  or 
five  young  are  reared.  The  insects  eaten  by  the  bird  belong 
mostly  to  species  of  small  size. 

Seventeen  Wisconsin  specimens  had  eaten  five  ants,  twenty 
small  measuring  worms  and  one  other  caterpillar,  four  moths, 
five  two-winged  flies,  one  curculio  and  fifteen  other  beetles, 
seven  bugs,  a  caddis-fly,  and  a  small  snail,  besides  more  than 
a  hundred  insects'  eggs.  One  Nebraska  bird  had  swallowed 
forty-one  locusts  and  twelve  other  insects,  together  with  a 
few  seeds. 

The  BLUE  YELLOW-BACKED  WARBLER  is  a  beautiful  little  bird 
which  spends  much  of  its  feeding  time  among  the  topmost 
twigs  of  the  tallest  trees.  It  is  common  in  eastern  America 
and  is  found  as  far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  In  New 
England  it  has  been  observed  feeding  on  May-flies,  measuring 
worms,  and  spiders ;  in  Wisconsin  six  small  insects  were 
taken  from  a  single  stomach,  and  in  Nebraska  it  has  frequently 
been  seen  picking  up  locusts  and  other  insects.  A  picture  of 
it  is  shown  in  the  frontispiece  of  this  book. 

The  NASHVILLE  WARBLER  is  found,  occasionally  at  least, 
throughout  almost  the  whole  of  North  America,  specimens 
of  it  having  been  taken  as  far  north  as  Greenland,  as  far  west 
as  Utah,  Nevada,  and  California,  and  as  far  south  as  Mexico. 
Its  chief  distribution,  however,  is  in  the  region  east  of  the 


114  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

Mississippi  River,  where  it  is  a  regular  migrant,  breeding  as 
far  south  as  the  northern  counties  of  Illinois  and  the  central 
portion  of  New  England.  The  nest  is  placed  on  the  ground. 
The  only  food  records  that  we  have  show  that  two  Wisconsin 
specimens  had  eaten  four  small  green  caterpillars  and  some 
other  insects  not  identifiable,  and  that  one  Nebraska  fledgling 
had  devoured  twenty-one  locusts  and  several  other  insects, 
while  the  adult  birds  have  frequently  been  seen  feeding  on 
locusts. 

The  TENNESSEE  WARBLER  is  a  very  interesting  migratory 
species  that  passes  regularly  and  abundantly  through  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley  States  during  its  spring  and  autumn  migrations. 
It  also  occurs  sparingly  west  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  east 
to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It  breeds  in  the  far  North  and  winters, 
in  part  at  least,  in  South  America.  It  searches  diligently  for 
the  insect  mites  that  infest  the  foliage  of  trees,  seeming  to 
have  a  special  fondness  for  aphides,  forty-two  of  which  have 
been  taken  from  the  stomachs  of  three  of  these  birds.  Among 
the  other  food  elements  of  thirty-two  specimens  there  were 
found  two  small  Hymenoptera,  thirteen  caterpillars,  fifteen 
two-winged  flies,  thirteen  beetles,  thirty-five  small  bugs,  and 
eleven  insects'  eggs.  Four-fifths  of  the  food  of  one  bird  shot 
in  an  orchard  infested  by  canker-worms  consisted  of  these 
pests.  Tennessee  warblers  have  also  been  seen  feeding  on 
small  grasshoppers. 

This,  however,  is  one  of  the  very  few  warblers  against 
which  a  charge  has  been  brought  by  the  fruit-growers.  In 
some  sections  it  is  known  as  the  "grape-sucker,1'  because  it 
punctures  ripe  grapes  with  its  little  beak,  presumably  to  get  at 
the  juice.  Testimony  on  this  point  appears  to  be  conclusive, 
and  considerable  injury  occasionally  results.  There  can  be 
no  doubt,  however,  that  in  the  aggregate  the  bird  does  vastly 
more  good  than  harm. 

The  YELLOW-RUMPED  WARBLER,  or  MYRTLE-BIRD,  is  an  ex- 
ceedingly hardy  little  creature,  often  enduring  the  rigors  of  a 


THE   WARBLERS    AND   THE   VIREOS.  115 

New  England  winter  when  its  congeners  are  basking  in  the 
sunshine  of  the  South.  It  is  distributed  over  a  large  North 
American  range,  and  is  abundant  in  all  sorts  of  situations, 
especially  during  the  spring  and  autumn  migrations.  It 
breeds  regularly  in  the  far  North,  commonly  nesting,  how- 
ever, in  the  northern  tier  of  States  and  in  southern  Canada. 
According  to  Ridgway,  it  is  a  common  winter  resident  in 
southern  Illinois.  Of  twenty-one  specimens  studied  by  King, 
44  one  had  eaten  a  moth ;  two,  twenty-one  caterpillars,  mostly 
measuring  worms ;  five,  fourteen  two-winged  flies,  among 
which  were  three  crane-flies ;  fifteen,  forty-eight  beetles ;  one, 
four  ichneumon-flies ;  one,  a  caddis-fly ;  and  one,  a  spider.1' 
Our  own  studies  l  of  many  specimens  show  that  in  autumn 
three-fifths  of  its  food  consists  of  myrtle-berries,  the  remainder 
being  largely  insects,  while  in  spring  the  insect  ratios  are 
much  greater. 

The  YELLOW  WARBLER,  or  SUMMER  YELLOW-BIRD,  is  probably 
the  best-known  member  of  its  family.  It  seems  perfectly  at 
home  throughout  the  whole  of  North  America,  from  the  trop- 
ical regions  of  the  South  to  the  arctic  lands  of  the  North.  It 
is  a  familiar  and  confiding  bird,  associating  freely  with  civilized 
man,  and  building  its  neat  nest  of  vegetable  fibre  in  the  trees 
of  the  orchard,  park,  family  residence,  and  public  thorough- 
fare. Three  or  four  eggs  are  usually  deposited  in  the  nest, 
and  when  an  additional  one  is  left  by  a  skulking  cow-bird, 
the  warblers — with  a  wisdom  beyond  their  size — sometimes 
add  another  story  to  the  nest  and  begin  again  their  domestic 
duties,  leaving  the  stranger  egg  and  if  necessary  some  of  their 
own  to  go  unhatched. 

The  food  habits  of  the  yellow  warbler  are  all  that  could  be 
desired.  It  freely  visits  farm  premises  and  feeds  on  minute 
insects  of  many  kinds.  Two-thirds  of  the  food  of  five  Illinois 


dearborn  and  Weed,  Tech.  Bulletin  No.  3,  N.  H.  C.  Exp.  St.,  Food 
of  the  Myrtle-Warbler. 


116  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

specimens  consisted  of  canker-worms,  and  most  of  the  re- 
mainder was  an  injurious  beetle.  An  equal  number  of  Wis- 
consin birds  contained  small  caterpillars  and  beetles :  and 
from  various  other  specimens  spiders,  myriapods,  moths, 
bugs,  flies,  grasshoppers,  and  other  insects  have  been  taken. 
The  BLACK-THROATED  GREEN  WARBLER,  which  is  especially 
characterized  by  its  jet-black  chin,  throat,  and  breast,  is 
abundant  in  New  England  and  extends  westward  to  Ne- 


THE  MAGNOLIA  WARBLER. 


braska,  breeding  in  pine  trees  throughout  the  northern  por- 
tion of  its  range.  Its  food  is  obtained  among  the  branches  of 
tall  trees,  largely  while  upon  the  wing,  and  consists  of  a  great 
variety  of  small  insects,  including  caterpillars  and  larvae  of 
many  kinds,  curculios  and  other  beetles,  small  bugs,  and 
various  Hymenoptera.  An  idea  of  the  number  of  insects  it 


THE   WARBLERS   AND   THE   VIREOS.  117 

consumes  may  be  obtained  from  the  statement  that  the 
stomachs  of  five  birds  taken  in  Nebraska  during  June  con- 
tained one  hundred  and  sixteen  small  locusts  and  one  hun- 
dred and  four  other  insects,  an  average  of  forty-four  to  each 
bird.  Seventy  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  one  Illinois  specimen 
consisted  of  canker-worms. 

The  beautiful  AMERICAN  REDSTART  is  a  much  commoner 
species  in  most  of  the  Northern  States  than  would  be  sup- 
posed by  those  who  have  paid  no  special  attention  to  the 
study  of  birds.  Living  amidst,  the  foliage  of  trees,  it  is  seldom 
seen  except  by  those  looking  for  the  warblers  found  in  such 
situations.  The  redstart  is  "  the  flycatcher  of  the  inner  tree- 
tops,11  capturing  on  the  wing  the  numerous  insects  that  flit 
about  among  the  branches  and  occasionally  taking  a  cater- 
pillar hanging  by  a  thread  or  crawling  on  a  twig.  The  food 
of  the  few  specimens  that  have  been  critically  examined  con- 
sisted of  small  two- winged  flies,  a  few  parasitic  Hymenoptera, 
an  occasional  small  bug,  and  some  minute  larvae.  Seven 
Nebraska  specimens  had  eaten  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
small  locusts  and  one  hundred  and  seventeen  other  insects. 
The  young  are  fed  with  moths  and  other  insects  caught  when 
upon  the  wing. 

The  handsome  little  MARYLAND  YELLOW-THROAT,  in  its  typical 
form  or  that  of  a  subspecies,  is  found  throughout  the  United 
States,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  oceans,  and  in  many 
localities  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  of  the  warblers.  It 
especially  frequents  the  shrubbery  about  standing  or  running 
water,  where  it  can  be  found  throughout  the  summer  busily 
searching  for  insect  food.  It  often  visits  orchards,  where 
canker-worms  and  other  caterpillars  are  greedily  devoured, 
these  forming  in  three  cases  on  record  four-fifths  of  its  food. 
The  little  case-bearing  caterpillars  of  the  genus  Coleophora  and 
its  allies  are  often  eaten,  while  butterflies,  moths,  two-winged 
flies,  beetles,  grasshoppers,  leaf-hoppers,  bugs,  dragon-flies, 
Hymenoptera,  and  insects'  eggs  are  all  included  on  the  bill  of 


118 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 


fare.  The  young  are  sometimes  fed  with  small  grasshoppers, 
and  these  insects  are  a  favorite  item  of  food  with  the  adult 
birds. 

Like  the  yellow  warbler,  this  species  sometimes  outwits  the 
cow-bird  by  its  intelligence.  Mr.  A.  W.  Butler  thus  describes 
the  three-storied  nest  of  a  yellow-throat  in  his  possession : 
"In  the  original  nest  had  been  deposited  the  egg  of  a  COW- 


BUTTERFLY  CAUGHT  BY  MARYLAND  YELLOW-THROAT. 

bird,  then  within  that  nest  and  rising  above  it  the  yellow-throat 
had  built  another  nest,  which  also  became  the  depository  of 
the  hope  of  offspring  of  this  unnatural  bird ;  again  the  little 
warbler  constructed  a  third  nest  upon  the  other  two,  burying 
the  cow-bird's  egg,  and  in  this  nest  laid  her  complement  of 
eggs." 

These  examples  will  suffice  to  make  manifest  the  fact  that 
the  warbler  family  is  one  of  extraordinary  economic  value,  the 
members  of  which  are  immensely  useful  in  checking  noxious 
insects  and  with  very  few  exceptions  have  no  injurious  habits. 
It  is  particularly  gratifying  that  these  charming  birds,  whose 
song  and  plumage  draw  to  them  the  good  will  of  all  intelli- 
gent people,  should  show  so  well  that  utility  and  beauty  are 
not  always  dissociated. 


Photographed  from  life  by  L>r.  It.  W.  Shufeldl. 

RED-EYED   VIREO.       YOUNG. 


THE   WARBLERS   AND   THE   VIREOS.  H9 

THE    VIREOS,    OR    GREENLETS. 

The  vireos,  or  greenlets,  are  universally  recognized  as 
among  the  sweetest  of  feathered  songsters.  They  are  small 
birds,  modest  in  manners  and  dress,  very  different  from  the 
shrikes,  to  which  the  ornithologists  state  that  they  are  closely 
related.  This  is  exclusively  a  New  World  family,  composed 
of  half  a  dozen  genera  and  a  little  over  half  a  hundred  spe- 
cies :  only  one  of  the  former,  the  genus  Vireo,  and  thirteen 
of  the  latter  occur  in  the  United  States.  Of  these  thirteen 
species  about  half  are  common  over  a  considerable  area.  In 
color  our  forms  are  mostly  greenish  olive  or  gray  above  and 
white  or  yellow  below.  They  build  slightly  pendent  nests  in 
trees,  migrate  southward  in  autumn,  and  are  almost  exclu- 
sively insectivorous.  They  are  more  often  heard  than  seen. 
"  Clad  in  simple  tints  that  harmonize  with  the  verdure," 
writes  Dr.  Coues,  "these  gentle  songsters  warble  their  lays 
unseen,  while  the  foliage  itself  seems  stirred  to  music.  In 
the  quaint  and  curious  ditty  of  the  white-eye,  in  the  earnest, 
voluble  strains  of  the  red-eye,  in  the  tender  secret  that  the 
warbling  vireo  confides  in  whispers  to  the  passing  breeze,  he 
is  insensible  who  does  not  hear  the  echo  of  thoughts  he  never 
clothes  in  words." 

The  RED-EYED  VIREO  seems  to  be  the  most  abundant  and 
widely  distributed  species  of  the  genus.  It  is  found  in  all 
the  States  except  those  of  the  extreme  West,  and  in  summer 
sometimes  migrates  as  far  north  as  Greenland.  It  prefers 
woodlands  to  the  cultivated  fields,  but  frequently  finds  its 
way  to  parks  and  orchards.  It  commonly  seeks  its  food 
among  the  foliage  and  branches  of  trees  and  shrubs,  some- 
times chasing  moths  and  other  flying  insects  for  short  dis- 
tances on  the  wing.  It  is  universally  recognized  as  a  great  in- 
sect-eater. An  excellent  idea  of  its  food  may  be  obtained  from 
Professor  King's  studies  of  fifty-four  Wisconsin  specimens: 
"  From  the  stomachs  of  eighteen  of  this  species  were  taken 


120  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

fifteen  caterpillars ;  five  other  larvae ;  eight  beetles,  among 
them  five  weevils  and  one  long-horn ;  seventy  heteropterous 
insects,  among  them  sixty-seven  chinch-bugs  ;  sixteen  winged 
ants ;  one  ichneumon  (?) ;  five  dragon-flies  ;  two  dipterous 
insects,  one  of  them  a  large  horse-fly  ( Tabanm  atratus) ;  three 
small  moths ;  two  grasshoppers ;  one  aphis  ;  one  chrysalid  ; 
two  spiders ;  and  seven  dogwood-berries.  Of  thirty-six  other 
specimens  examined,  fifteen  had  eaten  caterpillars ;  two, 
other  larvae  ;  nine,  beetles,  among  them  two  lady-bird  beetles  ; 
three,  grasshoppers  ;  two,  ants  ;  two,  moths  ;  four,  unidentified 
insects ;  and  seven,  fruits  or  seeds,  among  which  were  rasp- 
berries, dogwood-berries,  berries  of  prickly  ash,  and  sheep- 
berries."  During  locust  outbreaks  in  Nebraska  four-fifths 
of  the  food  of  this  vireo  has  been  found  to  consist  of  these 
insects.  Of  his  studies  of  the  food  of  the  young  of  this 
species,  Professor  Herrick  writes :  "  Grasshoppers,  katydids, 
green  Iarva3,  beetles,  and  bugs  of  many  kinds  were  served 
again  and  again ;  but  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
there  was  no  fruit  to  vary  this  diet.  Upon  the  third  day  the 
mother  brought  a  ripe  red  raspberry,  its  juice  fairly  stream- 
ing down  her  bill,  and  after  a  fe\v  beetles  had  been  taken  she 
appeared  with  a  large  blackberry.  Fruit  was  served  to  the 
young  about  half  a  dozen  times  in  the  course  of  four  hours 
during  which  watch  was  kept  on  this  particular  day,  but  I 
had  not  seen  a  single  berry  brought  to  the  young  before  this 
time."  Professor  Beal  found  that  nestlings  three  days  old 
had  been  fed  with  spiders,  sphinx  caterpillars,  butterflies, 
assassin-bugs,  and  tree-hoppers. 

The  WARBLING  VIREO  frequents  cultivated  fields,  orchards, 
and  the  vicinity  of  houses,  as  well  as  the  wilder  woodlands. 
It  is  an  abundant  species  in  most  States  and  is  highly  insec- 
tivorous. Its  food  consists  chiefly  of  caterpillars,  including 
such  destructive  species  as  the  canker-worm,  beetles  of 
various  kinds,  among  them  the  twelve-spotted  cucumber- 
beetle  and  occasionally  a  lady-bird,  crane-flies  and  other 


. 
THE   WARBLERS   AND   THE   VIREOS.  121 

two-winged  flies,  grasshoppers,  bugs,  and  sometimes  dog- 
wood-berries. The  young  are  known  sometimes  to  be  fed 
with  grasshoppers..  Canker-worms  formed  forty-four  per 
cent,  of  the  food  of  three  specimens  shot  in  an  orchard 
infested  by  these  pests. 

The  YELLOW-THROATED  VIREO  is  a  larger  bird  than  either  of 
those  above  mentioned.  It  is  common  in  the  eastern  regions 
of  North  America,  and  feeds  on  caterpillars,  including  meas- 
uring worms,  moths,  weevils  and  other  beetles,  grasshoppers, 
leaf-hoppers,  and  various  flies.  It  evidently  is  a  highly  bene- 
ficial bird. 

The  WHITE-EYED  VIREO  is  abundant  in  the  Eastern  States  as 
far  north  as  Massachusetts,  and  is  occasionally  found  as  far 
west  as  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  usually  haunts 
clearings  where  there  is  much  underbrush.  Dr.  Brewer 
reports  that  it  feeds  on  canker-worms,  and  De  Kay  says  it 
eats  insects  and  berries.  No  precise  records  of  the  examina- 
tion of  the  stomach  contents  appear  to  have  been  published, 
but  its  diet  is  probably  similar  to  that  of  the  other  species  of 
the  genus.  Judd  summarizes l  the  food  of  ten  specimens  of 
this  species  along  with  that  of  fifteen  specimens  of  other 
species.  Ninety-one  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  the  twenty-five 
vireos  consisted  of  insects  and  nine  per  cent,  of  the  fruit  of 
mulberries  and  sassafras. 

1  Birds  of  a  Maryland  Farm,  U.  S.  Biol.  Surv.,  Bull.  17,  p.  102. 


CHAPTER    XL 
THE   SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND   TANAGERS. 

THE    SHRIKES,  OR    BUTCHER-BIRDS. 

IT  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion  concern- 
ing the  economic  status  of  our  North  American  shrikes  (Lani- 
idce),  of  which  there  are  two  well-defined  species,  the  great 
northern  shrike  and  the  loggerhead  shrike.  They  are  birds 
of  extraordinary  habits  and  feed  upon  an  unusual  variety  of 
animal  life.  On  the  one  hand  it  is  clear  that  they  devour  large 
numbers  of  injurious  insects,  birds,  and  mice,  and  on  the  other 
hand  that  they  destroy  many  beneficial  birds.  The  balance 
of  evidence,  however,  seems  to  show  that  on  the  whole  the 
shrikes  are  of  economic  value.  The  complexity  of  the  problem 
is  increased  by  their  peculiar  habit  of  impaling  many  of  their 
victims  upon  thorns,  often  leaving  them  there  indefinitely. 
Many  explanations  of  the  origin  of  this  habit  have  been  sug- 
gested. The  most  plausible  one  seems  to  be  that  the  victims 
are  thus  spitted  for  convenience  in  tearing  up  preparatory 
to  eating,  Dr.  Judd  having  shown  that  this  is  necessary  on 
account  of  the  comparative  weakness  of  the  shrike's  feet  as 
grasping  organs. 

The  GREAT  NORTHERN  SHRIKE  is  a  bold  and  fearless  bird. 
"  Appropriating  to  himself  sufficient  territory,  where  no  other 
bird  may  safely  intrude,  he  becomes  the  terror  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, and  woe  to  the  unlucky  finch  or  warbler  that  ven- 
tures to  trespass  on  these  hunting-grounds.  Like  a  veritable 
sentinel  on  guard,  the  shrike  stands  in  wait  upon  his  chosen 
spot,  ready  to  pounce  with  unerring  aim  upon  the  first  little 
bird  that  may  dare  to  rustle  in  the  nearest  bush."  (Coues.) 
Besides  the  small  native  birds  that  are  thus  destroyed,  the 
shrikes  are  known  to  attack  the  imported  English  sparrow. 

122 


SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND   TANAGERS.      123 

On  this  account  it  has  been  recommended  that  they  be  pro- 
tected by  law.  Shrikes  also  feed  upon  shrews  and  mice  and 
many  kinds  of  insects,  including  grasshoppers,  caterpillars, 
crane-flies,  and  ground,  tiger,  carrion,  and  leaf  beetles.  Dr. 
S.  D.  Judd,  who  has  made  a  careful  study  of  the  food  of  this 
species,  writes  :  "The  present  investigation  shows  that  bene- 
ficial birds  form  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  food  of  the  butcher- 
bird. It  also  shows  that,  in  addition  to  being  an  enemy  of 


THE  GREAT  NORTHERN  SHRIKE. 


mice,  it  is  a  potent  check  on  the  English  sparrow  and  on 
several  insect  pests.  One-fourth  of  its  food  consists  of  mice ; 
another  fourth,  grasshoppers ;  a  third  fourth  consists  of  na- 
tive sparrows  and  predaceous  beetles  and  spiders,  while  the 
remainder  is  made  up  of  English  sparrows  and  species  of 
insects  most  of  which  are  noxious."  l  The  young  are  fed 
very  largely  with  grasshoppers,  though  mice  and  birds  are 
sometimes  given  them. 

The  LOGGERHEAD  SHRIKE  is  a  smaller  bird  than  the  last.     In 
some  of  its  racial  forms  it  is  found  very  generally  throughout 


1  Div.  Biol.  Surv.,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1898,  Bull.  No.  9,  p.  20. 


124  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

the  country  in  summer,  retiring  southward  at  the  approach  of 
winter.  Inhabiting  a  wanner  climate  than  its  northern  rela- 
tive, it  is  able  to  subsist  more  largely  upon  insects. 

In  eighty-eight  stomachs  reported  by  Dr.  Judd,1  only  seven 
birds  were  found.  Mice  formed  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  winter 
food,  or  sixteen  per  cent,  of  that  for  the  whole  year.  Beetles 
and  their  larvae  constituted  twenty  per  cent.,  of  which  half 
were  predaceous.  Caterpillars,  grasshoppers,  wasps,  and  spi- 
ders were  all  found  in  considerable  numbers.  The  nestlings 
are  fed  mainly  upon  insects,  with  an  occasional  mouse  or 
small  bird. 

Although  the  loggerhead  shrike  destroys  a  few  birds  and 
beneficial  insects,  these  seem  to  be  more  than  compensated 
for  by  its  destruction  of  mice  and  noxious  insects. 

THE    WAXWINGS. 

The  beautiful  family  of  waxwings  (Ampelidce)  is  repre- 
sented in  North  America  by  three  species,  only  one  of  which 
is  at  all  common  and  widely  distributed.  Of  the  other  two, 
one,  the  Bohemian  waxwing,  is  found  in  the  far  North, 
coming  to  the  southern  line  of  Canada  in  the  winter,  and  the 
other,  the  shining  fly-snapper,  occurs  in  the  Southwestern 
States.  Another  species  included  by  some  ornithologists  in 
this  family  is  Townsend's  fly-catching  thrush,  a  peculiar  bird 
found  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  region. 

The  only  member  with  which  we  are  especially  concerned 
in  the  present  connection,  however,  is  the  handsome  CEDAR 
WAXWING,  or  CEDAR-BIRD,  sometimes  also  called  the  CHERRY- 
BIRD.  This  "gem  of  ornithological  beauties"  is  found  in 
nearly  all  the  United  States  and  throughout  a  large  part  of 
Canada.  It  commonly  goes  in  small  flocks  which  wander 
from  place  to  place  in  search  of  food,  and  is  usually  present 
in  all  but  the  most  northern  States  both  winter  and  summer. 


Div.  Biol.  Surv.,  U.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  1898,  Bull.  No.  9,  p.  20. 


SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND   TANAGERS.      125 


Its  name  has  been  given  it  because  of  its  fondness  for  cedar- 
berries,  to  obtain  which  it  frequents  cedar  thickets.  u  These 
birds  are  exceedingly  hardy  and  voracious,  and  for  this  reason 
have  become  adapted  to  a  wide  range  of  food.  During  the 
early  spring  and  summer  they  are  said  to  feed  almost  exclu- 
sively upon  insects,  and  during  the  last  of  July  and  August 
they  feed  to  a  considerable  extent  upon  them.  They  are  dex- 
terous fly-catchers,  and  when  in  the  woods  they  labor  in  a 
field  almost  peculiar  to  themselves.  They  often  station  them- 
selves upon  the  top- 
most branches  of  some 
dead  tree-top  which 
commands  a  view  above 
the  forest,  and  there 
watch  hours  together 
for  insects,  every  few 
minutes  beating  off  and 
up  into  the  air  to  secure 
the  winged  forms  that 
are  passing  above  them. 
On  the  borders  of  woods 
they  often  fly  out  six  or 
more  rods  for  passing 
insects.  Besides  being 
fly-catchers  they  search  among  the  foliage  of  trees  for  larvre 
of  various  kinds."  l  Unfortunately,  the  cedar  waxwings  are 
also  very  fond  of  cherries,  and  on  this  account  are  in  bad  re- 
pute among  fruit-growers.  Yet  it  has  been  shown  that  they 
generally  eat  only  the  earliest  cherries,  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  during  the  year  they  abundantly  pay  for  the  fruit 
taken  during  the  cherry  season.  In  some  localities  cherry- 
trees  have  been  so  generally  planted  that  there  is  more  than 
enough  for  birds  and  men ;  in  such  places  the  depredations 


THE  CEDAR-BIRD. 


1  F.  H.  King. 


126  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

of  these  birds  are  not  noticed.  Raspberries,  elder-berries, 
myrtle-berries,  mulberries,  and  various  other  wild  fruits  are 
also  eaten  largely  by  the  cedar-birds. 

In  the  orchard  infested  by  canker-worms  treated  of  in 
Chapter  VI.,  Professor  Forbes  shot  seven  specimens  out  of 
a  flock  of  thirty  cedar-birds.  The  stomachs  of  all  these 
were  full  of  the  worms,  averaging  one  hundred  to  each,  so 
that  it  was  estimated  that  this  flock  would  destroy  ninety 
thousand  of  the  pests  if  they  stayed  in  the  orchard  a  month. 
Among  other  insects  which  are  known  to  be  eaten  by  this 
species  may  be  mentioned  beetles,  crickets,  crane-flies,  lace- 
wing  flies,  and  ichneumon-flies.  At  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  the  food-contents  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
stomachs  of  this  species  have  been  examined,  the  results 
showing  that  seventy-four  per  cent,  of  the  food  consisted  of 
wild  fruits,  thirteen  per  cent,  of  cultivated  fruits,  only  five 
per  cent,  of  this  being  cherries.  The  remaining  food  con- 
sisted of  insects, — grasshoppers,  bugs,  bark-lice,  and  beetles 
(among  the  latter  the  elm-leaf  beetle)  being  the  principal 
items  of  the  insect  bill  of  fare. 

An  exceedingly  interesting  account  of  the  nesting  habits  of 
the  cedar-bird  has  been  given  by  Herrick.  u  The  food  con- 
sisted of  choke-cherries  and  red  bird-cherries,  varied  with 
raspberries,  blackberries,  and  blueberries,  together  with  in- 
sects, which  during  the  last  days  of  life  at.  the  nest  constituted 
about  one-quarter  of  the  fare."  Our  own  observations  show 
very  similar  feeding  habits.  In  one  case  nestling  birds  were 
found  by  another  observer  to  have  been  fed  largely  upon  the 
little  dung-beetles  of  the  genus  Aphodius. 

THE    SWALLOWS. 

Few  families  of  birds  are  more  highly  insectivorous  than 
that  of  the  swallows  (Hirundinidce).  Members  of  this  group 
have  long,  pointed  wings,  small  feet,  and  a  short,  broad, 
deeply  cleft  bill,  well  adapted  to  catching  insects  in  the  air. 


SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND   TANAGERS.      127 

They  are  migratory,  having  extraordinary  powers  of  flight, 
and  are  almost  constantly  on  the  wing.  u  The  habits  of  swal- 
lows,11 writes  Dr.  Coues,  ubest  illustrate  the  modifying  influ- 
ences of  civilization  on  indigenous  birds.  Formerly  they  all 
bred  on  cliff's,  in  banks,  in  hollow  trees,  and  similar  places, 
and  many  do  so  still.  But  most  of  our  species  have  forsaken 
these  primitive  haunts  to  avail  themselves  of  the  convenient 


THE  BARN-SWALLOW. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

artificial  nesting-places  that  man,  intentionally  or  otherwise, 
provides.  Some  are  just  now  in  a  transition  state ;  thus,  the 
purple  martin  in  settled  parts  of  the  country  chooses  the 
boxes  everywhere  provided  for  its  accommodation,  while  in 
the  West  it  retains  the  old  custom  of  breeding  in  hollow 
trees.1'  On  account  of  this  adaptability  to  the  environments 
of  civilization,  swallows  should  be  encouraged  as  much  as  pos- 


128  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

sible  by  having  breeding-places  provided  in  barns  and  about 
premises.  A  little  trouble  in  this  direction  will  be  more  than 
repaid  by  the  destruction  of  injurious  insects. 

There  are  seven  species  of  North  American  swallows,  five 
of  which  are  fairly  abundant.  Of  these  the  BARN-SWALLOW  is 
one  of  the  commonest,  occurring  and  breeding  throughout 
most  of  Canada  and  the  United  States.  Too  many  of  the 
new  barns  are  so  planned  that  these  birds  cannot  get  inside 
to  build  their  nests  and  rear  their  young,  but  the  wise  farmer 
will  leave  openings  for  this  purpose.  Most  of  their  food  is 
captured  on  the  wing,  and  consists  of  small  moths,  two- 
winged  flies,  especially  crane-flies,  beetles  in  great  variety, 
flying  bugs,  and  occasionally  small  dragon-flies.  The  young 
are  fed  with  insects. 

During  "  locust  years1'  in  Nebraska,  Professor  Aughey 
found  that  these  swallows  fed  very  largely  on  the  pests  after 
the  latter  began  to  fly :  of  three  specimens  shot  after  the 
middle  of  June,  two  contained  thirty-four  locusts  each  and 
the  third  one  thirty-seven  locusts.  At  such  times  they  appear 
to  feed  almost  exclusively  on  locusts,  as  their  stomachs  con- 
tained very  few  other  insects. 

The  CLIFF-SWALLOW,  or  EAVES-SWALLOW,  is  irregularly  dis- 
tributed over  the  United  States,  breeding  abundantly  in  many 
localities  and  being  rare  in  other  districts.  It  flies  over  up- 
land meadows  and  pastures,  often  skimming  along  near  the 
surface  of  the  ground  to  catch  the  numerous  leaf-hoppers 
and  other  insects  found  there.  A  single  specimen  shot  by 
Professor  King  while  the  bird  was  skimming  over  a  wheat- 
field  contained  twelve  leaf-hoppers,  seven  two-winged  flies, 
including  one  large  crane-fly,  six  small  beetles,  and  two 
medium-sized  ichneumon-flies.  It  has  been  reported  to  catch 
numbers  of  small  grasshoppers ;  and  six  specimens  taken  in 
Nebraska  after  the  western  locusts  had  begun  to  fly  had  eaten 
two  hundred  and  twenty-nine  of  these  insects, — an  average 
of  thirty-eight  to  each  bird.  Five  specimens  studied  by  Pro- 


SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND   TANAGERS.      129 

fessor  Forbes  had  eaten  ants,  wasps,  ichneumon-flies,  ground- 
beetles,  fungus-beetles,  curculios,  leaf-beetles,  two-winged  flies, 
and  certain  bugs.  The  benefits  derived  from  this  bird  appear 
to  be  much  greater  than  any  injury  it  may  do  in  eating  para- 
sitic insects. 

The  WHITE-BELLIED  SWALLOW  appears  to  be  less  generally 
abundant  than  the  last-named  species.  It  is  found  throughout 
temperate  North  America,  migrating  early  in  autumn  to  the 
Southern  States  and  beyond.  Its  nest  is  built  in  holes  in 
dead  stumps,  especially  those  standing  in  shallow  water, 
although  in  some  localities  the  birds  are  taking  to  martin- 
boxes  for  the  purpose.  The  food  consists  of  dragon-flies, 
the  smaller  species  of  which  these  birds  feed  upon  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  crane-flies  and  other  Diptera,  winged  plant- 
lice,  grasshoppers,  weevils,  click-beetles,  rove-beetles,  and 
various  other  Coleoptera,  winged  ants,  ichneumon-flies,  and 
many  other  insects.  In  autumn,  just  before  leaving  for  the 
South,  these  and  other  swallows  feed  largely  on  the  fruit  of 
the  bayberry  or  waxberry  (Myrlca,  cerifera).  The  fact  that 
many  dragon-flies  are  eaten  by  this  bird  apparently  indicates 
that  it  is  not  an  unmixed  blessing,  but  in  our  present  igno- 
rance of  the  precise  economic  status  of  these  insects  compara- 
tively little  weight  can  be  given  to  this  circumstance. 

The  BANK-SWALLOW  is  the  most  widely  distributed  American 
member  of  its  family.  Besides  America  it  occurs  in  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa.  It  breeds  abundantly  in  holes  made  in 
natural  or  artificial  embankments,  and,  unfortunately,  suffers 
largely  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  from  the  budding 
scientists  of  juvenile  age  who  rob  birds'  nests  for  the  sake  of 
the  eggs.  The  young  are  fed  on  grasshoppers  and  other 
insects ;  the  adults  are  insectivorous,  although  they  often  eat 
the  fruit  of  the  bayberry  late  in  summer  or  early  in  autumn. 

No  swallow  is  more  familiar  about  the  haunts  of  man  than 
the  PURPLE  MARTIN.  It  is  an  abundant  species  and  readily 
nests  in  boxes  provided  for  the  purpose.  It  is  a  great  insect- 

9 


130  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

eater,  but,  unfortunately,  it  seems  to  include  many  beneficial 
as  well  as  injurious  insects  on  its  bill  of  fare.  Apiarists 
charge  it  with  feeding  on  bees,  although  some  observers  con- 
tend that  it  takes  mostly  drones.  Dr.  Packard  found  one  of 
the  compartments  of  a  martin  -box  u  literally  packed  with  the 

dried  remains  of  the  little  yel- 
low and  black  squash-beetle.1" 
Professor  King  found  that  the 
stomachs  of  four  eight-days- 
old  nestlings  contained,  re- 
spectively, "(a)  two  butterflies 
(Colias  philodice  and  a  skip- 
per), six  honey-bees,  and  many 


HEAD  OF  PURPLE  MARTIN.  Of    Shells      Of     SlUEll 

lusks  ;  (6)  two  large  dragon- 

flies,  a  large  bee-fly,  two  honey-bees,  and  bits  of  shells  of 
small  mollusks  ;  (c)  one  large  dragon-fly,  three  honey-bees,  and 
fragments  of  the  shells  of  small  mollusks  ;  (d)  two  medium- 
sized  dragon-flies,  one  honey-bee,  and  small  pieces  of  shells." 
Another  young  bird  recently  from  the  nest  had  eaten  tiger- 
beetles.  These  young  birds  certainly  make  a  poor  showing 
for  the  usefulness  of  the  species,  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
their  food  fairly  represents  the  food  of  the  birds  as  a  whole. 
The  adults  would  be  much  more  likely  to  give  their  young 
the  larger  insects  they  caught,  reserving  for  themselves  the 
smaller  forms.  Ten  Nebraska  specimens  examined  by  Pro- 
fessor Aughey  had  eaten  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  locusts 
and  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  other  insects.  "  No  bird  of 
North  America,"  writes  Mr.  Ridgeway,  "is  more  deserving  of 
protection  and  of  encouragement  to  live  about  the  habitations 
of  man  than  the  purple  martin.  One  pair  of  them  will  destroy 
more  insects  in  a  season  than  all  the  English  sparrows  in  a 
township  will  kill  in  their  life-time.  Besides,  their  notes  are 
pleasing  to  the  ear,  and  their  actions,  both  when  on  the  wing 
and  when  perching  upon  their  boxes,  are  extremely  interesting." 


SHRIKES,  WAXWINGS,  SWALLOWS,  AND   TANAGERS.      131 

THE    TANAGERS. 

The  family  of  tanagers  (Tanagridce),  which  in  tropical 
America  contains  many  brilliant  and  beautiful  species,  has 
several  representatives  in  the  United  States,  only  two  of 
which  commonly  inhabit  the  eastern  region.  All  are  brightly 
colored  birds,  with  a  stout  bill,  notched  at  the  tip  and  having 
a  tooth  or  lobe  near  the  middle.  They  are  migratory  in 
habits  and  subsist  upon  both  insects  and  fruit. 

The  SCARLET  TANAGER  is  the  most  strikingly  colored  of  any 
of  our  birds.  The  male  is  of  a  brilliant  scarlet,  with  deep- 
black  Avings  and  tail ;  the  female  is  olive-green  above,  green- 
ish yellow  below,  with  wings  and  tail  more  or  less  dusky. 
This  bird  is  common  throughout  the  Eastern  States,  ranging 
westward  a  little  beyond  the  Mississippi.  It  nests  in  trees  in 
woods  and  groves,  and  winters  in  the  South.  Its  food 
consists  mostly  of  insects,  of  which  it  takes  a  varied  assort- 
ment. The  stomachs  of  various  specimens  have  been  found 
to  contain  ants,  ichneumon-flies,  including  what  was  thought 
to  be  the  large  Thalessa  lunator,  many  caterpillars,  crane-flies 
and  other  Diptera,  curculios,  click-beetles,  leaf-chafers,  and 
various  other  beetles,  grasshoppers,  a  few  bugs,  an  occasional 
dragon-fly  or  spider,  and  several  harvest-spiders.  A  single 
Nebraska  specimen  shot  in  the  autumn  of  1874  contained 
thirty-seven  locusts.  Three  nestlings  less  than  a  week  old, 
examined  by  Professor  King,  had  eaten  four  caterpillars,  one 
fly,  one  small  grasshopper,  one  bug,  besides  undetermined 
fragments. 

The  feeding  habits  of  the  ROSE  TANAGER,  or  SUMMER  RED- 
BIRD,  seem  to  be  less  known  than  those  of  the  last-named 
species.  One  specimen  taken  in  Maryland  had  eaten  wild 
blackberries,  a  bee,  and  a  wasp.  Mr.  Robert  Ridgway  says 
that  its  food  consists  to  a  great  extent  of  hornets,  wasps,  and 
bees,  because  of  which  it  is  sometimes  called  u  red  bee-bird.11 
It  is  more  southerly  in  distribution  than  the  scarlet  tanager. 


CHAPTER     XII. 
THE   FINCHES   AND   SPARROWS. 

THE  family  Fringillidce,  to  which  belong  the  sparrows, 
finches,  buntings,  and  grosbeaks,  contains  more  than  one- 
seventh  of  the  species  of  North  American  birds.  It  is  even 
richer  in  forms  than  the  warblers,  although  the  latter  doubtless 
destroy  many  more  insects  than  do  the  former.  The  finches, 
as  a  rule,  are  birds  of  moderate  size,  of  sombre  colors,  and 
of  both  vegetivorous  and  insectivorous  habits.  The  majority 
of  them  subsist  upon  seeds  and  grains  of  various  kinds ;  but 
some  eat  other  vegetation,  including  buds  and  fruit,  and 
many  feed  to  a  large  extent  upon  insects.  They  are  more  or 
less  migratory,  and  some  of  them  usually  go  in  small  flocks. 
They  are  found  in  all  sorts  of  situations.  Many  of  the  species 
are  excellent  singers. 

Of  the  true  grosbeaks  occurring  in  our  fauna,  the  EVENING 
GROSBEAK  is  a  western  form  that  occasionally  migrates  in 
winter  to  the  region  of  the  great  lakes  and  even  farther  east. 
It  feeds  upon  the  seeds  arid  buds  of  various  trees,  such  as  the 
pine,  poplar,  spruce,  maple,  black  ash,  and  cotton-wood,  and 
has  been  found  sometimes  to  include  grasshoppers  in  its  bill 
of  fare. 

The  PINE  GROSBEAK  is  a  northern  form  Avhich  in  winter 
ranges  southward  through  the  New  England  and  other 
Northern  States.  The  birds  travel  in  small  flocks,  which 
spend  much  of  their  time  in  coniferous  forests,  feeding  upon 
buds  of  pine  and  spruce  ;  they  also  eat  the  buds  and  seeds 
of  white  ash,  basswood,  alder,  birch,  apple,  pear,  and  poplar, 
as  well  as  the  berries  of  the  red  cedar  and  the  high-bush 
cranberry.  In  winter  they  often  subsist  largely  upon  the 
pulp  and  seeds  of  frozen  apples.  In  some  instances  they 
132 


THE   FINCHES  AND   SPARROWS.  133 

have  been  known  to  injure  fruit  orchards  by  feeding  upon  the 
buds,  but  this  is  a  rare  occurrence.  Professor  Aughey  found 
that  five  Nebraska  specimens  taken  during  winter  had  eaten, 
along  with  various  seeds,  a  large  number  of  eggs  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  locust.  The  pine  grosbeak  is  one  of  the  largest 
species  of  this  family  in  the  more  northern  States. 

The  PURPLE  FINCH  is  a  handsome  and  somewhat  familiar 
bird,  found  throughout  nearly  all  of  the  United  States.  It  is 
migratory  and  usually  goes  in  flocks,  except  during  the  breed- 
ing season.  In  the  Northern  States  its  nest  of  vegetable  fibre 
is  frequently  placed  on  trees  near  houses.  Unfortunately,  the 
feeding  habits  of  this  species  are  not  all  that  could  be  desired. 
Many  years  ago  an  eminent  ornithologist  wrote  concerning 
the  purple  finch  :  "  This  is  a  winter  bird  of  passage,  coming 
to  us  in  large  flocks  from  the  North  in  September  and  Octo- 
ber; great  numbers  remaining  with  us  in  Pennsylvania 
during  the  whole  winter,  feeding  on  the  seeds  of  the  poplar, 
button- wood,  juniper,  cedar,  and  on  those  of  many  rank 
weeds  that  flourish  in  rich  bottoms  and  along  the  margins  of 
creeks.  When  the  rainy  season  is  very  severe,  they  proceed 
to  the  South,  as  far  at  least  as  Georgia,  returning  north  early 
in  April.  They  now  frequent  the  elm-trees,  feeding  on  the 
slender  but  sweet  covering  of  the  flowers ;  and  as  soon  as  the 
cherries  put  out  their  blossoms  they  feed  almost  exclusively 
upon  the  stamens  of  the  flowers ;  afterwards  the  apple- 
blossoms  are  attacked  in  the  same  manner ;  and  their  depre- 
dations on  these  continue  until  they  disappear,  which  is 
usually  about  the  tenth  or  middle  of  May."  Many  later  ob- 
servers have  seen  the  purple  finch  eating  the  tender  portions 
of  the  buds  and  blossoms  of  apple,  cherry,  plum,  and  peach, 
although  little  real  damage  seems  to  be  done  by  it,  and,  as  a 
partial  offset,  it  is  also  known  to  devour  aphides  and  various 
caterpillars. 

The  beautiful  little  AMERICAN  GOLDFINCH,  or  THISTLE-BIRD, 
is  familiar  to  all  residents  of  temperate  North  America  who 


134 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 


pay  the  slightest  attention  to  feathered  beauty.  Except 
during  the  breeding  season  these  birds  wander  about  in  small 
flocks,  stopping  wherever  a  supply  of  seeds  extends  an  invita- 
tion. They  are  especially  fond  of  the  seeds  of  composite 
plants,  like  the  thistle,  dandelion,  and  sunflower,  and  in  winter 
frequently  dine  upon  the  balls  of  the  button-bush,  although 

they  more  commonly  eat  the 
seeds  of  ragweed  and  various 
other  noxious  plants.  At  this 
season  also  they  get  much  of 
their  food  from  the  seeds  of  birch 
and  similar  trees.  They  occa- 
sionally attack  seed  intended  by 
man  for  other  purposes,  but  the 
benefits  we  derive  from  them 
more  than  compensate  for  the 
injury  so  done.  They  also  take 
a  few  insects,  having  been  re- 
ported to  devour  plant-lice,  the 
Hessianfly,  and  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tain locust.  The  downy  nest  is  built  very  late  in  the  season, 
generally  in  July,  and  from  four  to  six  young  are  reared,  the 
latter  being  fed  largely  upon  the  seeds  of  thistles. 

The  SNOW-BIRD,  or  SNOW-BUNTING,  is  one  of  the  most 
beneficial  of  the  seed-eaters.  It  breeds  in  the  summer  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  and  in  winter  visits  the  Northern  States  in 
large  flocks.  It  commonly  frequents  cultivated  fields,  where 
there  is  an  abundance  of  seeds  of  weedy  plants,  like  the  fox- 
tail grass  (Setaria)  and  bindweed  (Convolvulus).  The  snow- 
birds keep  close  to  the  ground,  seldom  staying  in  trees,  and 
are  welcome  visitors,  adding  much  to  the  scanty  life  of  our 
winter  landscapes. 

The  lovely  little  bird  celebrated  by  John  Burroughs  as 
the  VESPER-SPARROW,  and  known  also  as  the  GRASS-FINCH, 
or  BAY-WINGED  BUNTING,  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  of  the 


AMERICAN   GOLDFINCH. 


THE   FINCHES   AND   SPARROWS.  135 

sparrows,  and  can  readily  be  distinguished  from  its  relatives 
by  the  white  lateral  tail-feathers  shown  when  it  flies.  '  It  is 
widely  distributed  and  partially  migratory.  It  frequents 
grass-lands  and  cultivated  fields,  in  the  Western  States  often 
making  its  nest  in  corn-fields.  Two  or  three  broods  are 
reared  each  season,  with  from  four  to  six  young  in  each 
brood.  The  food  of  a  number  of  New  Hampshire  nestlings 
consisted  of  spiders  and  larvre  of  various  kinds.  The  diet  of 
thirty-seven  Wisconsin  adults  was  studied  by  King :  of  these 
u  thirty-one  had  eaten  various  small  weed  seeds;  five,  four 
grasshoppers  ;  one,  eight  grasshoppers'  eggs  ;  four,  ten  larvae ; 
fourteen,  twenty-seven  small  beetles ;  three,  eight  moths ; 
one,  three  flies;  one,  three  land-snails;  one,  two  kernels  of 
wheat ;  and  one,  a  kernel  of  rye." 

The  examination  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  stomachs  of 
this  species  at  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
showed  that  two-thirds  of  the  food  of  the  year  is  of  vegetable 
matter,  the  rest  being  largely  insects  and  spiders.  In  winter 
the  food  consists  chiefly  of  the  seeds  of  weedy  plants,  espe- 
cially ragweed,  amaranth,  lamb's-quarters,  and  purslane.  In 
summer  the  birds  eat  chiefly  insects,  especially  grasshoppers, 
beetles,  cutworms,  army-worms,  and  other  sorts.  In  July 
grasshoppers  form  nearly  half  the  sparrows'  food. 

The  TREE-SPARROW,  which  comes  down  from  the  far  North, 
usually  towards  the  end  of  October  and  remains  with  us 
until  April,  not  only  serves  to  enliven  winter,  but  at  the  same 
iime  does  much  good  by  destroying  great  quantities  of  weed 
seed.  The  good  work  laid  down  by  the  chipping,  field, 
vesper,  savanna,  and  the  other  sparrows,  less  hardy  than  this 
boreal  species,  is  quickly  taken  up  and  continued  until  their 
return.  In  New  Hampshire  the  date  of  the  chipping-sparrow's 
departure  is  almost  precisely  that  of  the  tree-sparrow's  arrival, 
and  vice  versa. 

In  the  Northern  States,  except  along  the  coast,  the  snow  is 
so  deep  that  but  few  seeds  eaten  by  this  sparrow  are  left 


136  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

uncovered,  and  for  that  reason  comparatively  few  birds  remain 
there  during  the  hardest  part  of  the  winter.  A  little  farther 
south  they  are  very  abundant  in  cold  weather,  and  the  amount 
of  seed  they  consume  is  wellnigh  incredible. 

Professor  Beal l  has  estimated  that  during  the  two  hundred 
days  they  average  to  remain  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  reckoning 
ten  sparrows  to  the  square  mile  and  one-fourth  of  an  ounce 
as  the  daily  ration,  eight  hundred  and  seventy-five  tons  of 
weed  seed  are  eaten  by  this  species  alone.  The  only 
complaint  to  be  entered  against  it  is  that  sometimes  it  eats 
the  seeds  of  cultivated  millet  left  exposed  in  shocks  out-of- 
doors. 

The  WHITE-CROWNED  and  the  WHITE-THROATED  SPARROWS 
have  much  the  same  feeding  habits  as  the  tree-sparrow.  The 
seeds  of  ragweed  and  the  various  sorts  of  smartweed,  knot- 
weed,  and  bindweed  form  a  chief  part  of  their  winter  food. 
About  three-fourths  of  the  food  of  both  species  consists  of 
vegetable  matter,  the  rest  being  insects  and  allied  forms. 
These  two  species  differ  from  most  of  the  other  sparrows  in 
that  they  take  very  few  grasshoppers  and  comparatively  little 
grass-seed,  while  on  the  other  hand  they  take  a  small  per- 
centage of  wild  fruit. 

The  Pacific  coast  form  of  the  white-crowned  sparrow — 
sometimes  called  Nuttall's  sparrow — has  been  carefully 
studied  by  Dr.  T.  S.  Palmer.  Unlike  most  of  the  native 
sparrows,  this  subspecies  is  sometimes  injurious  through  its 
destruction  of  grain  in  newly  soAvn  fields  or  that  ready  to 
harvest.  As  a  partial  compensation,  however,  the?e  birds 
eat  great  quantities  of  weed  seeds. 

The  FIELD-SPARROW  is  an  abundant  and  widely  distributed 
species,  occurring  in  summer  in  southern  Canada  and  the 
Northern  States  and  in  winter  in  the  Southern  States.  Its 
food  is  approximately  forty  per  cent,  animal  and  sixty  per 

1  See  Some  Common  Birds  in  their  Relation  to  Agriculture,  p.  28. 


THE   FINCHES   AND   SPARROWS. 


137 


cent,  vegetable  matter.  Insects  and  the  seeds  of  weeds  and 
grasses  are  eaten  in  a  way  very  similar  to  that  of  the  other 
ground-loving  sparrows. 


THE   FIELD-SPARROW. 
{After  Biological  Survey.) 

The  sombre-colored  SAVANNA-SPARROW,  either  in  the  typical 
form  or  in  that  of  the  closely  related  species  and  subspecies, 
is  found  throughout  almost  all  of  North  America.  It  is  a 
ground-loving  bird,  and  abounds  in  meadows  and  pastures 
and  along  highways,  as  well  as  by  the  margins  of  brooks  and 
in  stubble  or  corn-fields.  It  feeds  upon  the  seeds  of  weeds 
and  grasses,  and  also  upon  such  insects  as  beetles,  moths,  and 
caterpillars,  animal  and  vegetable  matter  being  about  equally 
divided.  It  has  a  special  liking  for  beetles.  Its  nest  is 
placed  in  a  clump  of  grass  and  carefully  concealed  from  view. 

The  common  CHIPPING-SPARROW,  or  HAIR-BIRD,  is  the  most 
familiar  of  the  sparrows,  living  freely  about  houses  and  in 
gardens.  It  is  abundant  and  widely  distributed,  and  an  un- 
assuming but  extremely  useful  little  bird,  which  probably 


t 

138  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

suffers  more  from  the  attacks  of  cats  than  does  any  other 
species.  The  neat  hair-lined  nest  is  placed  in  a  shrub  or  tree, 
often  near  a  house.  Its  food  consists  of  insects  and  small 
seeds:  of  the  former  smooth  caterpillars,  like  cutworms  and 
canker-worms,  are  favorites,  but  beetles,  grasshoppers,  moths, 
ants,  and  bugs  are  also  eaten.  It  has  been  observed  feeding 
upon  the  common  cabbage-worm  (Pieris  rapce). 

Dr.  Judd's  studies  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  stomachs  of 
the  chipping-sparrow  show  that  insects  and  spiders  form 
thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  food  of  the  adults,  the  remainder 
being  seeds.  The  seeds  of  grasses  alone  form  forty-eight  per 
cent.,  more  than  half  of  it  being  crab-grass  and  pigeon-grass. 
In  our  study  of  the  feeding  of  the  nestlings  of  this  species  we 
saw  the  parent  birds  come  to  the  nest  almost  two  hundred 
times  in  one  day  from  daylight  to  dark.  The  young  are  fed 
with  smooth  caterpillars  of  various  sorts,  as  well  as  grass- 
hoppers, crane-flies,  spiders,  and  similar  creatures. 

The  JUNCO,  or  BLACK  SNOW-BIRD,  is  a  common  winter  resi- 
dent or  migrant  in  most  of  the  United  States,  breeding  in  the 
northern  tier  of  States  and  in  Canada.  Its  principal  food 
consists  of  the  seeds  of  weeds  and  grasses,  although  in 
summer  a  good  many  insects  are  eaten,  these  forming  about 
one-half  of  its  summer  diet. 

No  bird  is  a  more  welcome  harbinger  of  spring  than  the 
SONG-SPARROW.  When  one  hears  its  cheery  song  on  a  bright 
March  morning,  he  knows  that  the  frost  king  is  vanquished 
and  will  soon  retreat  before  the  living  armies  that  usher 
gentle  spring  to  the  front.  This  bird  is  indeed  ua  hearty, 
sunny  songster,  whose  quivering  pipe  is  often  tuned  to 
the  most  dreary  scenes."  The  typical  form  inhabits  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  while  the  western  region  has 
several  closely  allied  subspecies.  It  abounds  in  shrubbery 
everywhere,  along  road-sides,  fences,  brooks,  and  swamps. 
It  winters  in  the  Middle  States  and  southward,  some  speci- 
mens migrating  north  very  early  in  spring,  into  those  States 


THE   FINCHES   AND   SPARROWS. 


139 


THE  SONG-SPAKROW. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


where  they  have  not  passed  the  winter.  Its  nest  is  placed  on 
the  ground  or  in  a  low  bush,  and  two  or  three  broods  are 
reared  each  season.  "  It  seeks  its  food  on  the  ground,  gen- 
erally among  bushes  or  weeds,  and  has  a  peculiar  mouse- 
like way  of  running 
through  the  grass/' 
During  the  winter  it 
lives  mostly  on  the 
seeds  of  w  e  e  d  s, 
wThile  in  summer  it 
is  largely  insectivo- 
rous. In  spring  it 
feeds  upon  the  seeds 
of  dandelion.  When 
canker-worms  are 
abundant  it  feeds 
freely  upon  them, 
and  at  other  times 
takes  a  great  variety  of  insects,  such  as  ground-beetles,  grass- 
hoppers and  their  eggs,  occasionally  a  lady-bird  beetle  and 
various  noxious  beetles,  moths,  dragon-flies,  crickets,  spiders, 
bugs,  two-winged  flies,  and  myriapods. 

Considering  its  abundance,  comparatively  few  people  are 
familiar  with  the  song  or  appearance  of  the  SWAMP-SPARROW. 
This  bird  is  a  recluse,  living  in  the  tangled  shrubbery  of 
lowland  swamps,  where  he  may  often  be  seen  by  the  nature- 
lover  who  will  patiently  penetrate  to  his  retreat.  This  spe- 
cies breeds  commonly  in  New  England,  rearing  two  or  three 
broods  each  summer,  and  spends  the  winter  in  the  South. 
Insects  appear  to  form  about  half  its  food :  among  those 
taken  from  the  stomachs  of  this  species  we  may  mention 
beetles,  moths,  bugs  (including  plant-lice  and  leaf-hoppers), 
grasshoppers,  caterpillars  (among  them  case-bearers  of  the 
genus  Coleophora),  and  a  few  parasitic  Hymenoptera.  They 
also  eat  snails  and  the  seeds  of  various  grasses,  sedges,  and 


140 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 


other  weedy  plants,  the  latter  forming  fully  one-half  of  their 
food.  The  army-worm  is  perhaps  the  most  destructive  in- 
sect which  the  swamp-sparrow  is  likely  to  assist  in  checking, 
because  the  insect  develops  especially  in  the  marsh  lands 
where  the  birds  live. 

uThe  DICKCISSEL,"  writes  Dr.  Judd,  in  his  admirable  mono- 
graph,1 "formerly  raised  its  broods  over  a  considerable  portion 


THE  DICKCISSEL. 
( After  Biological  Survey. ) 

of  the  United  States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains ;  but  two 
or  three  decades  ago  it  abandoned  the  Eastern  States  and  now 
rarely  breeds  east  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  In  autumn 
it  migrates  to  Central  and  South  America.  In  some  localities 
it  is  known  as  the  little  meadow-lark,  because  its  coloring  is 
like  that  of  the  meadow-lark,  even  to  the  black  locket  on  the 

1  The  Relation  of  Sparrows  to  Agriculture,   Bull.   No.  15,  U.  S.   Bio- 
logical Survey. 


THE   FINCHES   AND   SPARROWS.  141 

breast  of  brilliant  yellow.  Most  sparrows  are  gregarious,  but 
dickcissels  move  about  in  pairs  or  little  family  groups.  In 
many  places  they  are  so  numerous  that  a  score  of  individuals 
may  be  found  in  every  hay-field  and  meadow ;  and  the  species 
is  as  characteristic  of  such  localities  as  the  robin  is  of  the  New 
England  lawn,  or  the  mocking-bird  of  the  Florida  plantation. 
The  song  consists  of  a  series  of  monotonous  insect  notes,  re- 
peated incessantly  from  early  morn  to  late  afternoon,  resembling 
somewhat  the  heat-suggestive  tones  of  the  grasshopper.'1 

The  food  of  the  dickcissel  is  especially  noteworthy  on 
account  of  the  grasshoppers  and  crickets  eaten :  in  summer 
these  constitute  more  than  half  its  dietary.  The  vegetable 
food  consists  of  the  seeds  of  weeds  and  grasses. 

In  the  shrubbery  along  the  borders  of  woodlands  one  may 
often  see  a  black  bird  with  chestnut  sides  skulking  from  bush 
to  bush  or  scratching  the  leaf-covered  soil.  This  is  the  CHE- 
WINK,  or  TOWHEE  BUNTING,  one  of  the  larger  finches,  which  is 
common  in  the  eastern  United  States  and  Canada.  It  is 
migratory ;  its  nest  is  placed  upon  the  ground,  and  two 
broods  of  young  are  reared  each  season.  Its  food  consists 
of  small  seeds,  grains,  and  fruits,  as  well  as  many  insects ; 
among  the  latter  are  included  moths,  beetles,  ants,  wasps, 
and  ichneumon-flies,  cockroaches,  grasshoppers,  walking-sticks 
and  their  eggs,  besides  larvae  of  many  kinds.  The  young 
are  fed  upon  insects  similar  to  those  eaten  by  the  adults. 

The  beautiful  ROSE-BREASTED  GROSBEAK  is  especially  noted 
for  its  destruction  of  Colorado  potato-beetles.  Observers  in 
Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Iowa, 
Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  other  States  have  repeatedly  no- 
ticed this  habit,  which  in  some  localities  has  given  the  species 
the  name  of  "  potato-bug  bird."  The  following  sentences 
from  the  pen  of  Professor  F.  E.  L.  Beal  illustrate  its  economic 
value :  "  The  rose-breasted  grosbeak  feeds  upon  the  Colo- 
rado potato-beetle  in  all  its  stages.  I  observed  this  habit  in 
central  Iowa,  and  noticed  that  it  became  each  year  more 


142 


BIRDS    IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


general,  the  birds  of  this  species  seeking  the  potato-field  more 
and  more  each  season.  I  observed  one  small  field  near  my 
house  that  was  much  infested  with  the  beetles,  but  the  birds 
found  it,  and  in  a  few  weeks  I  searched  the  field  and  could 
not  discover  a  single  beetle  young  or  old."  Of  eight  stomachs 


THE  ROSE-BREASTED  GROSBEAK. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

of  this  species  examined  by  King,  six  contained  small  seeds, 
two  seven  beetles,  and  one  berries,  while  specimens  ex- 
amined by  Forbes  had  eaten  canker-worms,  army-worms,  and 
other  caterpillars,  wood-boring,  leaf-chafing,  and  snout-beetles, 
as  well  as  Hyrnenoptera  and  weed  seeds.  Two  Nebraska 
specimens  examined  by  Aughey  had  about  a  dozen  locusts  in 
each  stomach. 

As  a  result  of  the  examination  of  some  four  thousand 
stomachs  of  sparrows  of  many  sorts,  collected  all  over  the 
United  States,  Dr.  S.  D.  Judd  concludes  that  "  during  the 
colder  half  of  the  year  the  food  of  these  birds  consists  almost 
entirely  of  the  seeds  of  weeds."  And  he  records  this  intensive 
study  of  the  effect  of  their  work :  "  On  a  farm  in  Maryland, 
just  outside  the  District  of  Columbia,  tree-sparrows,  fox- 


THE   FINCHES   AND    SPARROWS.  143 

sparrows,  white-throats,  song-sparrows,  and  j uncos  fairly 
swarmed  during  December  in  the  briers  of  the  ditches  be- 
tween the  corn-fields.  They  came  into  the  open  fields  to 
feed  upon  weed  seed,  and  worked  hardest  where  the  smart- 
weed  formed  a  tangle  on  low  ground.  Later  in  the  season 
the  place  was  carefully  examined.  In  one  corn-field  near  a 
ditch  the  smartweed  formed  a  thicket  over  three  feet  high, 
and  the  ground  beneath  was  literally  black  with  seeds.  Ex- 
amination showed  that  these  seeds  had  been  cracked  open 
and  the  meat  removed.  In  a  rectangular  space  of  eighteen 
square  inches  were  found  eleven  hundred  and  thirty  half  seeds 
and  only  two  whole  seeds.  Even  as  late  as  May  13  the  birds 
were  still  feeding  on  the  seeds  of  these  and  other  weeds 
in  the  fields ;  in  fact,  out  of  a  collection  of  sixteen  sparrows, 
twelve,  mainly  song,  chipping,  and  field  sparrows,  had  been 
eating  old  weed  seed.  A  search  was  made  for  seeds  of  vari- 
ous weeds,  but  so  thoroughly  had  the  work  been  done  that 
only  half  a  dozen  seeds  could  be  found.  The  birds  had  taken 
practically  all  the  seed  that  was  not  covered  ;  in  fact,  the  song- 
sparrow  and  several  others  scratch  up  much  buried  seed.1' 

This  summary  of  the  economic  relations  of  the  commoner 
members  of  the  finch  family  shows  that,  on  the  whole,  these 
birds  serve  a  very  useful  purpose  by  destroying  the  seeds  of 
noxious  plants  and  the  lives  of  injurious  insects,  but  that 
some  species,  like  the  purple  finch  and  pine  grosbeak,  are 
occasionally  destructive  to  the  buds  of  fruit-trees.  The  most 
striking  particulars  brought  out  by  a  study  of  their  diet  are 
the  enormous  amount  of  weed  seed  taken  during  winter  and 
the  extent  to  which  these  so-called  seed-eaters  take  insect 
food  in  spring  and  summer,  especially  in  the  presence  of  an 
unusual  abundance  of  an  edible  species.  For  example,  in  an 
orchard  infested  by  canker-worms  forty-seven  members  of 
this  family  had  eaten  ninety-one  per  cent,  of  insects  and  only 
seven  per  cent,  of  seeds,  canker-worms  alone  making  forty 
per  cent,  of  the  food. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 
THE   ENGLISH   SPARROW. 

THE  European  house-sparrow,  familiarly  known  to  Ameri- 
cans as  the  English  sparrow,  was  first  introduced  into  the 
United  States  in  1850,  when  eight  pairs  were  brought  from 
England  to  Brooklyn,  New  York.  These  did  not  thrive,  and 
two  years  later  a  large  lot  of  the  birds  were  brought  to  the  same 
city  and  liberated  during  the  spring  of  1853  in  Greenwood 
Cemetery.  During  the  next  twenty  years  extensive  importa- 
tions were  made,  the  birds  being  brought  from  England  and 
Germany  and  liberated  in  Maine,  Rhode  Island,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Texas.  The 
largest  consignment  was  that  received  in  Philadelphia,  Avhen 
one  thousand  birds  were  set  free.  After  the  sparrows  had 
become  established  in  these  various  centres,  misguided  men 
assisted  their  migrations  by  carrying  them  to  towns  and  cities 
in  which  they  were  not  yet  found.  Everywhere  they  were 
petted  and  watched  over ;  in  some  States  special  laws  were 
enacted  to  protect  them :  the  people  fostered  an  evil  that  is 
not  now  easily  subdued.  Even  when  kindly  Nature  sent  the 
great  northern  shrike  to  check  the  sparrow's  increase  on 
Boston  Common,  the  authorities  hired  a  man  to  shoot  the 
shrikes  and  save  the  sparrows, — a  reversal  of  the  wiser 
process. 

The  sparrows  seem  to  have  been  first  imported  to  destroy 
canker-worms  and  other  insects  affecting  fruit-  and  shade- 
trees.  People  annoyed  by  the  defoliation  of  avenues  of 
shade-trees  hailed  with  delight  the  feathered  friends  that 
were  to  rid  them  of  their  crawling  foes.  The  enthusiasm 
passed  from  town  to  town,  resulting  in  a  sparrow  boom  that 
sent  the  prices  of  American-bred  birds  so  high  that  European 
144 


I 
THE   ENGLISH   SPARROW.  145 

importations  were  cheaper.  Many  immigrants  from  the  Old 
World  cherished  the  birds  on  account  of  their  associations 
with  the  scenes  of  early  life ;  and  native  Americans  encour- 
aged them  because  of  their  supposed  insectivorous  habits, 
or  from  the  desire  to  have  birds  to  enliven  city  streets  and 
premises.  Without  stopping  to  inquire  the  reasons  for  the 
hospitalities  they  received,  the  sparrows  made  the  most  of 
their  opportunities  and  throve  apace.  From  the  time  of 
their  first  general  introduction  to  the  present,  says  Professor 
Barrows,  "the  marvellous  rapidity  of  the  sparrow  multiplica- 
tion, the  surprising  swiftness  of  its  extension,  and  the  pro- 
digious size  of  the  area  it  has  overspread  are  without  parallel 
in  the  history  of  any  bird.  Like  a  noxious  weed  transplanted 
to  a  fertile  soil,  it  has  taken  root  and  become  disseminated 
over  half  a  continent  before  the  significance  of  its  presence 
has  come  to  be  understood.1' 

After  the  little  foreigner  had  been  coddled  through  the 
trying  period  of  acclimation  and  had  taken  possession  of  the 
country,  the  popular  mind  underwent  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
towards  him.  He  was  declared  a  nuisance  because  of  his 
noise,  reviled  as  a  humbug,  and  s'hot  for  being  a  poacher. 
But  the  sparrow  kept  on,  like  a  true  Anglo-Saxon,  in  the 
even  tenor  of  his  way.  In  many  places  he  suffered  severely, 
but  he  was  so  thoroughly  disseminated  and  his  fecundity  was 
so  great  that  any  loss  man  could  inflict  was  of  little  conse- 
quence to  his  race.  Of  late  years  there  is  less  heard  against 
him  than  formerly,  and  it  seems  as  if  the  people  are  at  last 
in  the  mood  to  make  the  best  of  a  bad  bargain. 

As  regards  food  habits  of  the  English  sparrow,  it  is  defi- 
nitely known  that  the  adult  birds  eat  a  few  insects, — cater- 
pillars, moths,  beetles,  etc., — and  that  the  young  are  fed  quite 
largely  on  insects.  In  the  country  and  the  suburbs  of  towns, 
they  may  often  be  seen  searching  the  fields  for  grasshoppers 
and  other  insects,  while  feeding  young,  as  assiduously  as  even 
the  chipping-sparrow. 

10 


146  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

A  few  years  ago  the  officials  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  examined  the  stomachs  of  five  hundred  and 
twenty-two  sparrows  from  many  different  localities :  insects 
of  any  kind  were  found  in  only  one  hundred  and  two  of 
these ;  and  of  the  insects  so  found  forty-seven  were  regarded 
as  belonging  to  noxious  species,  fifty  to  beneficial  species,  and 
thirty-one  to  species  having  no  economic  importance.  The 
testimony  of  those  best  able  to  judge  is  almost  unanimously 
to  the  effect  that  as  destroyers  of  noxious  insects  the  sparrows 
are  worse  than  useless.  In  his  report  upon  the  insect  con- 
tents of  the  five  hundred  and  twenty-two  sparrow  stomachs 
just  referred  to,  Dr.  C.  V.  Riley  says :  "  I  do  not  know  of 
any  fact  that  more  strongly  indicates  the  relative  uselessness 
in  destroying  injurious  insects  of  the  sparrow,  as  compared 
with  many  native  birds  which  it  drives  away,  than  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  insect  food  taken  by  a  single  cuckoo  shot  in 
Washington,  June  22,  1887,  the  stomach  of  which  contained 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  half-grown  web-worms,  one  large 
cerambycid  beetle  and  its  eggs,  one  large  plant-bug,  and  one 
snail,  while  in  bulk  the  contents  in  this  case  rather  exceeded 
the  combined  insect  contents  of  the  five  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  sparrow  stomachs  examined."  In  1880  Professor  S.  A. 
Forbes  examined  the  stomachs  of  twenty-five  Illinois  spar- 
rows, and  reports  that  at  a  "  time  when  thirty  per  cent, 
of  the  food  of  the  robin,  twenty  per  cent,  of  that  of  the 
cat-bird,  and  ninety  per  cent,  of  that  of  the  bluebird  con- 
sisted of  insects,  no  insects  were  found  in  the  stomachs  of 
these  birds  except  traces  of  three  grasshoppers,  making  per- 
haps six  per  cent,  of  the  food/'  To  show  that  results  of 
this  kind  in  investigating  the  sparrow's  diet  are  not  confined 
to  America,  we  may  add  that  of  an  English  ornithologist  who 
studied  during  a  whole  year  the  food  of  young  and  adult 
sparrows.  For  the  latter  he  found  that  seventy-five  per  cent, 
of  the  food  consisted  of  wheat  and  small  grains,  ten  per  cent, 
of  seeds  of  weeds,  four  per  cent,  of  green  peas,  three  per 


THE   ENGLISH    SPARROW. 


147 


cent,  of  beetles,  two  per  cent,  of  caterpillars,  one  per  cent, 
of  flying-  insects,  and  five  per  cent,  of  other  things.     During 
the  first  sixteen  days  of  the  nestlings'  life,  forty  per  cent,  of 
the  food  consisted  of  small  grains,  forty  per  cent,  of  cater 
pillars,  and  ten  per  cent,  of  small  beetles. 

If  the  sparrow  had  no  greater  sin  to  answer  for  than  that 
of  not  destroying  a  sufficient  number  of  injurious  insects,  he 
might  be  left  in  peace.  But  he  is  charged  with  a  long  list  of 
sins  of  commission  that  are  not  so  easily  condoned.  Obser- 
vations frequently  repeated  in  widely  separated  localities  have 
established  beyond 
doubt  the  fact  that  he 
habitually  destroy  s, 
either  for  food  or  pleas- 
ure, the  buds  and  blos- 
soms of  a  great  variety 
of  fruit,  shade,  and  or- 
namental trees.  On  the 
list  of  trees  and  shrubs 
so  attacked  we  find  the 
peach,  pear,  grape,  plum, 
cherry,  apple,  currant, 
maple,  elm,  evergreens, 
orange,  lilac,  and  others. 
This  injury  is  accom- 
plished in  spring  and 

often  results  in  the  total  destruction  of  the  fruit  crop.  Not 
content,  however,  with  nipping  the  fruits  in  the  bud,  the  spar- 
rows continue  their  attacks  later  when  the  fruits  are  maturing: 
among  the  ripe  or  ripening  fruits  they  so  attack  we  may  men- 
tion grapes,  cherries,  blackberries,  strawberries,  raspberries, 
apples,  pears,  peaches,  plums,  tomatoes,  and  currants.  The 
injury  to  grapes  is  occasionally  quite  severe,  and  that  to  early 
apples  is  particularly  vexatious,  as  they  peck  holes,  similar  to 
that  shown  in  the  figure  above,  in  the  ripening  fruit.  Garden 


APPLE  PECKED  BY  ENGLISH  SPARROWS. 

(After  Biological  Survey.) 


148  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

vegetables  are  often  attacked,  green  peas  being  especially 
liable  to  injury.  In  many  localities  it  has  become  very  diffi- 
cult to  get  a  crop  of  peas,  on  account  of  the  sparrows,  which 
destroy  the  blossoms  at  first  and  later  attack  the  pods.  Green 
corn,  lettuce,  cabbage,  and  other  vegetables  are  also  attacked, 
and  not  infrequently  the  newly  planted  seeds  are  scratched  to 
the  surface  and  devoured. 

The  list  of  the  sparrow's  sins  of  commission  is  by  no 
means  ended.  In  attacking  grain  of  various  kinds  these  birds 
probably  cause  more  loss  than  in  all  the  ways  mentioned  above. 
From  the  time  small  grains,  like  wheat  and  oats,  are  planted 
until  safely  gathered  in  the  bin,  they  are  liable  to  suffer  from 
sparrow  attack.  The  greatest  damage  is  probably  done  when 
the  grain  is  in  the  soft  condition  which  immediately  precedes 
ripening,  but  it  also  suffers  greatly  at  the  time  of  planting  and 
in  the  "shock"  just  after  harvesting.  Besides  the  grains 
already  mentioned  these  birds  attack  Indian  corn,  rye,  barley, 
sorghum,  rice,  and  buckwheat. 

These  charges  against  the  sparrow's  food  habits  are  grave 
indeed.  There  is  something  to  be  said  in  his  favor,  however. 
Mr.  Charles  W.  Nash l  states  that  "  Sparrows,  like  the  majority 
of  birds,  will  not  often  eat  the  spiny  larvae  of  Vanessa  antiopa, 
which  is  one  of  our  shade-tree  pests  that  few  birds  will  touch. 
Besides  this  I  have  seen  them  take  moths  of  almost  any  kind, 
including  the  large  cecropia  and  luna  moths  and  the  tussock 
moth  (both  the  winged  male  and  the  wingless  female),  beetles 
of  many  kinds,  even  such  large  species  as  the  Dytiscus,  which 
they  find  on  the  sidewalks  beneath  the  electric  lights,  to 
which  the  beetles  are  attracted  at  night,  the  green  cabbage- 
worm  (the  larva  of  the  cabbage-butterfly) — of  these  they  eat 
great  numbers.  They  also  hunt  about  fences  and  take  the 
pupae  of  this  same  butterfly.  The  currant-worms  and  mature 

1  See  "The  Birds  of  Ontario  in  relation  to  Agriculture,1'  second  edi- 
tion, p.  68,  published  by  the  Ontario  Department  of  Agriculture. 


THE   ENGLISH   SPARROW.  149 

insects  are  taken  in  large  numbers,  as  are  also  grasshoppers, 
and  both  the  black  and  green  aphides  that  occur  on  apple- 
trees  and  rose-bushes  are  eaten  greedily.  On  one  occasion 
a  flock  of  sparrows  completely  cleaned  the  green  aphis  from 
some  rose-bushes  near  my  windows.  It  took  them  several 
days  to  finish  their  work,  but  they  did  it  effectually  in  the 
end." 

Of  the  food  eaten  by  nestlings l  more  than  half  consists  of 
insects.  In  his  account  of  the  food  of  nestling  birds  Dr.  Judd, 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  the  following  to  say  of 
the  English  sparrow. 

"  From  April  till  August  weevils  and  cutworms  are  taken 
to  the  young  from  the  Department  lawns.  Some  interesting 
observations  on  the  insectivorous  habits  of  young  English 
sparrows  by  Mr.  George  H.  Berry,  of  North  Livermore,  Maine, 
are  worth  repeating  in  this  connection.2  In  a  nest  containing 
three  young  he  discovered  the  remains  of  two  large  moths, 
the  luna  moth  (Tropcea  lund)  and  the  cecropia  moth  (Samia 
cecropia),  a  swallow-tailed  butterfly  (Papilio  turnus),  a  mourn- 
ing-cloak butterfly  (Vanessa  antiopa),  and  an  unbroken  speci- 
men of  the  hairy  larva  of  that  pest  of  shade-trees,  the  tussock 
moth  (Orgyia  leucostigma).  When  he  placed  a  stick  with 
plenty  of  these  larvae  near  another  brood,  the  parent  birds 
at  first  paid  no  attention  to  them,  but  subsequently  they  fed 
three  of  them  to  their  young.  During  three  hours  of  observa- 
tion a  pair  of  sparrows  noted  by  Mr.  Berry  fed  to  their  nest- 
lings sixty  small  green  worms.  Multitudes  of  insects  may  be 
destroyed  in  this  way.  One  morning,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  thousands  of  winged  white  ants 
(Termes  flavipes)  were  noticed  by  the  writer  swarming  over 
the  sidewalk,  and  among  these  insects,  picking  them  up  with 
surprising  quickness,  were  half  a  dozen  adult  English  spar- 

1  See  1900  Yearbook,  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  421. 

3  Bulletin  1,  Div.  Ornith.  and  Mamm.,  Dept.  Agr.,  p.  291,  1889. 


150  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

rows  of  both  sexes.  All  the  birds  were  frightened  away 
except  one  female,  which  continued  to  snap  up  ants  undis- 
turbedly. She  flew  with  a  dozen  up  to  her  nest  in  the  gutter 
of  a  house,  and  immediately  returned.  At  the  end  of  five 
minutes  she  had  made  three  more  trips,  carrying  to  the  young 
forty-one,  seventy-one,  and  fifty  in  the  respective  trips ;  one 
hundred  and  sixty-two  white  ants  were  thus  disposed  of  in 
five  minutes.  The  systematic  manner  in  which  the  bird 
procured  her  supplies  commanded  admiration.  She  picked 
up  insect  after  insect  in  rapid  succession,  swallowed  them 
until  her  gullet  appeared  to  be  full,  and  then  filled  her 
mouth  so  that  a  fringe  of  wings  stuck  out  on  each  •  side  of 
her  bill.  The  destruction  of  white  ants  is  a  service,  as  they 
have  a  habit  of  tunnelling  into  the  wood-work  of  buildings. 
Injuries  occasioned  in  this  way  made  it  necessary  in  1896 
to  remove  the  wooden  floor  of  one  of  the  largest  rooms 
of  the  United  States  National  Museum  and  replace  it  with 
cement." 

More  than  one-third  of  the  food  of  the  nestlings,  however, 
has  been  found  to  consist  of  grain. 

By  large  numbers  of  city  people  the  sparrows  are  con- 
sidered an  unmitigated  nuisance  on  account  of  the  filth  they 
cause.  Wherever  they  appear  abundantly,  all  available  places 
about  houses  and  buildings  are  chosen  either  for  purposes  of 
roosting  or  nesting.  The  excrement  of  the  birds  soils  every- 
thing beneath  and  is  a  constant  source  of  annoyance.  When 
they  roost  among  or  over  climbing  vines,  the  foliage  is  often 
killed  outright  by  the  droppings. 

There  yet  remains  another  count  in  the  indictment  against 
the  sparrow,  which  many  nature-lovers  consider  the  most 
serious  of  all.  We  refer  to  its  influence  upon  native  song-birds. 
Nearly  all  competent  observers  agree  that  this  influence  is 
very  baneful.  The  sparrows  drive  the  native  birds  away 
from  their  nesting-places  and  molest  them  upon  all  sorts  of 
occasions.  The  bluebirds,  martins,  swallows,  native  spar- 


THE   ENGLISH   SPARROW.  151 

rows,  orioles,  vireos,  the  mocking-bird,  and  scores  of  others 
are  on  the  list  of  those  thus  molested. 

As  an  example  of  one  of  the  ways  in  which  these  spar- 
rows harass  our  native  birds,  we  quote  the  following  letter, 
published  in  the  excellent  "  Listener"  column  of  the  Boston 
Transcript. 

"  DEAR  LISTENER, — I  have  been  advised  by  friends  interested 
in  the  English  sparrow  problem  to  send  you  an  account  of 
what  I  myself  saw,  and  what  was  at  the  same  time  seen  by 
several  others  called  by  me  as  witnesses. 

u  Near  my  school-house  (the  'Washington),  within  the 
grounds  of  Dr.  John  W.  Driver,  Brattle  Street,  is  an  American 
elm  whose  branches  extend  far  out  over  the  street.  It  has 
been  a  favorite  nesting-place  for  the  Baltimore  oriole  for  several 
consecutive  years,  so  that  we  have  become  accustomed  to 
watching  not  only  the  most  interesting  process  of  nest-building, 
but  also  the  care  and  labor  given  to  the  feeding  and  rearing 
of  their  young. 

."  On  or  near  the  2.0th  of  June  my  attention  was  fixed  upon 
the  nest  by  seeing  an  English  sparrow  alight  upon  it.  In  a 
few  moments  the  mother  bird  returned  with  food  for  her  little 
ones,  who  greeted  her  with  their  accustomed  cries  of  welcome. 
Instantly  upon  alignting  she  was  seized  by  the  sparrow,  both 
of  whom  went  fluttering  to  the  ground,  contact  with  which 
broke  the  sparrow's  grip.  For  a  moment  both  remained 
facing  each  other,  the  oriole  trembling  as  if  in  great  fear. 
Then,  to  my  surprise,  the  oriole  flew  in  search  of  food,  while 
the  sparrow  flew  directly  to  the  nest  again,  to  await  the  return 
of  the  mother  oriole.  It  waited  but  a  brief  time,  when  there 
occurred  a  repetition  of  the  fluttering  to  the  ground.  This 
we  observed,  with  others,  for  as  many  as  six  times,  when  our 
duties  called  us  from  the  scene. 

"  Noticing  the  nest  in  the  autumn,  and  believing  that  here 
had  taken  place  another  '  bird  tragedy,'  we  secured  the  nest, 


152  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

only  to  have  our  worst  fears  fully  realized.     It  contained  the 
skeletons  of  two  or  more  baby  orioles ! 

UJ.  W.  FREESE. 
"17  Chauncy  Street,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  Oct.  3." 

In  certain  States  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  check  the 
increase  of  sparrows  by  means  of  bounties.  But  these  are 
nearly  always  worse  than  useless,  as  they  bring  about  the 
destruction  of  large  numbers  of  native  birds,  and  theoretical 
considerations  lead  strongly  to  the  conclusion  that  unless 
enormous  sums  are  expended  for  bounties  very  little  perma- 
nent good  is  accomplished. 

There  have  been  cases,  however,  where,  under  proper 
direction,  a  town  has  been  kept  fairly  clear  of  these  birds. 
The  following  quotation  from  a  letter  received  by  the  writers 
from  Mr.  Rufus  Kendrick,  of  Wakefield,  Massachusetts,  details 
a  plan  that  worked.  After  recounting  instances  in  which  he 
had  known  the  sparrows  to  interfere  with  nests  of  native 
birds  near  his  home,  he  went  on  to  say :  "  I  had  cared  for  a 
sparrow's  nest  as  well  as  for  the  others,  as  I  did  not  at  that 
time  know  the  destructive  qualities  of  the  bird.  Soon  after, 
I  learned  of  other  cases.  Then  I  began  my  crusade.  The 
town,  learning  of  their  depredations,  favored  me  with  fifty 
dollars.  This,  with  many  private  contributions  and  another 
fifty  dollars  from  the  town,  is  what  I  had  to  work  with.  I 
began  by  paying  one  cent  each  for  them,  then,  as  they  grew 
scarce,  I  paid  two,  three,  four,  and  five  cents  each  for  them. 
I  also  paid  one  dollar  per  hundred  for  the  eggs.  The  price 
now  is  two  cents  for  birds  and  one  cent  each  for  eggs.  At 
one  time  I  had  about  fifty  men  and  boys  killing  them.  I  took 
in  over  one  thousand  the  first  year.  This  year,  January  1,  I 
paid  premiums  amounting  to  two  dollars  and  a  half  for  once  in 
three  months.  To  the  party  bringing  me  the  largest  number 
of  birds  in  three  months  I  paid  one  dollar,  for  the  second 
largest  number  seventy-five  cents,  for  the  third  fifty  cents, 


THE   ENGLISH   SPARROW.  153 

and  the  fourth  twenty-five  cents,  making  ten  dollars  in  pre- 
miums a  year.  These  are  paid  in  addition  to  the  regular 
price.  The  native  birds  have  increased  noticeably  since  the 
crusade  began.'1 

Another  notable  example  is  that  of  Cheyenne,  Wyoming, 
recorded  in  Lange's  "Our  Native  Birds."  Mr.  Frank  Bond, 
editor  of  the  Wyoming  Tribune,  largely  exterminates  the 
sparrows  from  the  city  by  the  use  of  poisoned  wheat.  He 
reports  his  method  as  follows : 

"I  take  two  small  bottles  of  strychnine,  one  dram  each, 
and  mix  the  contents  with  about  three  quarts  of  water,  boiling 
until  the  poison  is  thoroughly  dissolved,  using  boiling  water 
to  begin  with.  Into  the  hot  poisoned  water  I  stir  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  a  peck  of  wheat,  and  then  set  the  mixture  aside  for 
forty-eight  hours.  The  grain  absorbs  all  the  water  and 
swells  greatly.  I  then  spread  the  grain  over  the  bottom  of  a 
large  pan,  one  that  will  just  slide  into  my  wife's  kitchen 
range,  keep  the  grain  hot  and  stir  it  frequently  until  it  is 
thoroughly  dried.  The  grain  must  not  be  scorched  in  the 
least,  as  then  the  birds,  especially  the  old  ones,  will  not  eat 
it.  When  the  grain  is  thoroughly  dried,  it  takes  a  better 
expert  than  even  an  English  sparrow  to  discover  any  change 
in  its  appearance.  If  an  exceedingly  deadly  grain  is  wanted, 
another  dram  of  the  poison  can  be  used,  but  the  above  will 
be  found  effective.  It  needs  but  one  grain  of  this  wheat  to 
kill  a  sparrow  in  three  minutes,  as  I  have  timed  the  experi- 
ment, and  the  grain  gets  no  farther  than  the  crop  and  some- 
times not  so  far.  I  scatter  the  grain  sparingly  near  the 
roosting  places  of  the  birds  and  in  localities  where  they  are 
accustomed  to  feed.  Snowy,  cold  weather,  when  there  is 
little  bare  ground,  is  the  best  time.  The  baited  places  should 
be  visited  daily,  if  possible,  and  the  dead  birds  should  be 
removed.  You  will  be  surprised  at  the  killings  you  will 
make.  By  persistent  effort,  you  can  enormously  reduce  their 
numbers,  and  that  is  worth  working  for." 


154  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

According  to  Professor  Barrows,  "  Large  numbers  of  the 
sparrows  may  be  destroyed  and  their  increase  prevented  by 
the  systematic  destruction  of  their  nests,  eggs,  and  young. 
By  the  aid  of  an  iron  rod  and  hook  set  in  the  end  of  a  long 
pole,  most  of  their  nests  can  be  reached  and  brought  down. 
This  method  promises  most  satisfactory  results.  They  may 
be  easily  driven  from  their  roosting  places  by  disturbing  them 
on  several  successive  nights.  A  very  efficacious  method  is  to 
throw  water  upon  them  when  at  roost.  In  cities  where  hose- 
pipe is  available,  the  process  is  simple  and  certain.  They 
may  be  kept  out  of  ornamental  vines  in  the  same  manner, 
particularly  in  the  breeding  season,  when  a  thorough  soaking 
not  only  disconcerts  the  old  birds  and  kills  their  young,  but 
at  the  same  time  does  much  good  by  soaking  the  vines  and 
washing  out  their  filth.  If  a  part  of  the  birds  are  shot  or 
caught  each  time  they  are  disturbed  at  their  roosts,  the  re- 
mainder are  much  less  likely  to  return." 

Mrs.  Mary  Treat  has  recorded  an  ingenious  experiment  in 
discouraging  the  English  sparrows  on  her  premises.  "  A  few 
years  ago,'1  she  writes,  "they  were  here  in  great  numbers, 
driving  bluebirds  and  wrens  and  martins  from  their  boxes. 
At  last  I  had  boxes  made  on  purpose  for  the  plagues,  with  a 
hinged  cover,  and  allowed  each  occupant  to  lay  the  requisite 
number  of  eggs,  usually  six,  and  commence  to  incubate,  when 
I  would  destroy  the  eggs  without  disturbing  the  nest.  At  first 
the  little  simpletons,  after  making  a  great  ado,  would  in  a  few 
days  thereafter  again  lay  eggs  in  the  same  boxes.  Sometimes 
over  thirty  eggs  were  laid  in  one  box.  But  even  the  English 
sparrow  finally  learns  prudence.  Each  year  they  appeared 
in  diminished  numbers,  and  last  year  only  one  pair  attempted 
to  pre-empt  a  box  and  they  left  after  the  first  setting  of  eggs 
was  destroyed,  and  the  bluebirds  and  wrens  had  peace." 

A  systematic  war  upon  the  sparrows,  however,  is  likely  to 
prove  troublesome  to  the  authorities  having  it  in  charge,  on 
account  of  the  sentiment  of  those  who  are  not  fully  informed 


THE   ENGLISH   SPARROW.  155 

upon  the  subject,  A  case  in  point  was  the  campaign  in 
Boston  about  three  years  ago,  when  the  park  commissioners 
destroyed  the  nests  by  the  thousand,  the  result  being  such  a 
commotion  in  the  public  prints  as  has  rarely  been  witnessed 
in  connection  with  any  natural  history  event.  Besides  the 
hundreds  of  columns  of  letters,  advertisements  like  this 
appeared  in  the  papers:  "Friends  of  the  sparrows,  who  are 
willing  to  have  their  names  used  in  a  remonstrance  against 
their  proposed  destruction,  are  requested  to  send  their  names 
and  addresses  to  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Preven- 
tion of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  19  'Milk  Street,  Boston.1'  The 
society  which  inserted  this  advertisement  asked  permission  to 
erect  bird-houses  for  the  sparrows  in  the  public  parks.  The 
commissioners  finally  gave  up  their  efforts,  although  no  greater 
evidence  of  the  practical  uselessness  of  the  sparrows  could 
be  asked  than  the  fact  that  in  the  very  parks  in  which  they 
were  living  so  abundantly  the  tussock  caterpillars  wrere  nu- 
merous upon  the  elm-trees. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
THE  ORIOLES,  BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,  AND  JAYS. 

NEXT  to  the  scarlet  tanager  the  BALTIMORE  ORIOLE  is  the 
most  brilliant  of  our  northern  birds.  It  seems  a  messenger 
from  the  tropics  when  it  arrives  in  May,  flashing  from  grove 
to  orchard  in  its  bright-hued  suit  and  filling  the  air  with  the 
rich  melody  of  its  song :  this  impression  is  strengthened  later 
when  it  builds  its  pendent  nest,  so  different  in  architecture 
from  that  of  any  of  the  rest  of  our  birds.  It  chooses  to  live 


THE  BALTIMORE  ORIOLE. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

in  orchards  or  groves  near  the  abode  of  man ;  it  is  strictly 
migratory  and  is  found  throughout  most  of  the  States  east  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  econo- 
mist it  sometimes  commits  depredations  on  the  pea-pods  in 
the  garden,  the  cherries  in  the  orchard,  and  the  grapes  in  the 
vineyard ;  but  these  attacks  are  rare  and  are  more  than  paid 
156 


THE   ORIOLES,  BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,  AND   JAYS.       157 

for  by  the  destruction  of  noxious  insects.  Its  services  in  the 
latter  direction  are  especially  helpful  because  it  feeds  freely 
upon  tent  caterpillars  and  other  hairy  larvae  that  very  few 
birds  will  touch.  Even  the  spiny  caterpillars  of  the  Vanessa 
butterfly  are  taken  by  it.  Three  of  these  orioles  shot  in  an 
Illinois  orchard  infested  by  canker-worms  had  eaten  forty  per 
cent,  of  these  pests  and  fifty  per  cent,  of  an  injurious  leaf- 
chafer  (Anomala  binotatd).  Professor  Aughey  found  that  in 
Nebraska  the  nestlings  were  fed  freely  with  young  Rocky 
Mountain  locusts,  of  which  also  the  old  birds  ate  large  num- 
bers. In  Massachusetts  these  birds  have  been  observed 
feeding  their  nestlings  with  canker-worms.  Professor  Beal 
states  that  caterpillars  alone  formed  thirty-four  per  cent,  of 
the  food  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen  specimens  examined, 
while  vegetable  matter  of  any  sort  had  been  eaten  only  to 
the  extent  of  sixteen  per  cent.  In  Arkansas  these  orioles 
have  been  found  to  destroy  great  numbers  of  the  catalpa 
sphinx  larvae,  which  when  unmolested  defoliate  the  catalpa- 
trees.  This  species  is  called  the  golden  robin  in  some  regions. 
"  I  was  sitting  at  the  window  one  day  in  May,'1  wrote 
Wilson  Flagg  many  years  ago,  "when  my  sister  called  my 
attention  to  a  golden  robin  in  a  black-cherry  tree,  devouring 
the  common  hairy  caterpillars ;  and  we  counted  the  number 
he  consumed  while  he  remained  on  the  branch.  The  time 
that  elapsed  was  just  one  minute  by  the  watch,  and  during 
this  space  he  destroyed  seventeen  caterpillars.  But  it  is 
worthy  of  notice  that  he  did  not  swallow  the  whole  insect. 
After  seizing  it  in  his  bill,  he  carefully  set  his  foot  upon  it, 
tore  it  asunder,  and  swallowed  a  small  portion  taken  from 
the  inside.  He  then  seized  others  in  succession,  and  in  like 
manner  selected  and  devoured  his  favorite  morsel.  Had  he 
consumed  the  whole  caterpillar  five  or  six  only  would  probably 
have  satisfied  his  appetite.'1 1 

1  Agriculture  of  Massachusetts,  1861,  part  II.  p.  52. 


158 


BIRDS   IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


From  the  Rocky  Mountains  eastward  the  CROW  BLACKBIRD, 
either  in  the  form  of  the  PURPLE  GRACKLE  or  the  BRONZED 
GRACKLE,  is  well  known,  in  the  North  as  a  summer  visitor  and 
in  the  Central  and  Southern  States  as  a  resident.  Occasion- 
ally a  few  winter  in  the  realm  of  snow,  and  there  is  one 
record  where  one  bird  even  stayed  in  New  Hampshire  till 
well  into  January.  In  New  England  they  are  only  locally 
distributed,  usually  selecting  homes  in  or  near  villages.  Else- 
where in  their  rana-e  they  are  much  better  known.  Like 


THE  CROW    BLACKBIRD. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

others  of  their  tribe,  they  are  accused  of  various  misdeeds : 
the  eating  of  grain  is  the  worst  of  these.  Throughout  the 
year  more  or  less  grain  is  taken,  though  in  summer  insects 
receive  the  major  part  of  their  attention.  All  sorts  of  grain 
as  well  as  wild  and  cultivated  fruits  and  many  kinds  of  seeds 
are  eaten. 

Of  the  grains,  Indian  corn  is  taken  in  greatest  amount. 
It  has  been  shown,  by  the  examination  of  two  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  stomachs  at  Washington,  that  corn -is 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,  AND   JAYS.       159 

Consumed  every  month  in  the  year,  and  that  it  forms  about 
half  of  the  vegetable  food,  or  a  fourth  of  the  entire  con- 
sumption,-— the  animal  and  vegetable  materials  being  about 
equal.  There  was  little  evidence  to  show  that  sprouting  corn 
was  pulled  up,  and  it  appeared  that  much  of  the  grain  was 
waste  matter  picked  up  after  the  harvest.  The  record  of  the 
September  birds  was  bad :  more  than  half  the  food  for  that 
month  Avas  corn,  evidently  taken  from  the  ear.  In  October 
the  ratio  was  nearly  as  great. 

Among  the  animal  food  were  found  insects,  spiders,  rny- 
riapods,  crawfish,  earthworms,  sowbugs,  hair-snakes,  snails, 
fishes,  tree-toads,  salamanders,  lizards,  snakes,  birds'  eggs, 
and  mice.  While  this  is  an  astonishing  variety,  everything  but 
insects  must  be  considered  exceptional,  as  out  of  the  forty- 
eight  per  cent,  of  animal  food  forty-six  per  cent,  consisted 
of  insects.  Of  these,  beetles  were  consumed  in  greatest 
quantities.  Scarabaeids,  adult  and  larval,  come  first  in  point 
of  numbers.  As  is  well  known,  these  beetles  either  as  larvae 
or  adults  are  consumers  of  vegetable  matter,  and  many  of 
them  are  distinctly  noxious.  The  large  white  grubs  so  often 
unearthed  by  the  plow  form  a  favorite  article  of  food :  many 
stomachs  were  crammed  with  them.  Snout-beetles,  among 
which  were  curculios  and  weevils,  were  found  in  great  num- 
bers in  stomachs  taken  during  summer.  Bollworms  and 
army-worms  are  also  eaten  by  these  birds.  Grasshoppers 
were  found  to  be  largely  eaten  also :  more  than  thirty  were 
often  found  in  a  single  bird.  This  fact,  when  coupled  with 
the  fact  that  many  'hoppers  and  caterpillars  are  fed  to  the 
young,  demonstrates  that  in  summer  at  least  the  crow  black- 
bird is  a  good  friend  in  helping  to  keep  down  the  grasshopper 
pest.  Caterpillars  and  stink-bugs  were  often  in  evidence. 

In  writing  of  the  food  of  the  young  crow  blackbirds  Dr.  S.  D. 
Judd  says :  "  The  first  meal  of  the  nestlings  often  consists  of 
plump  spiders  of  soft  texture,  which  suit  the  delicate  embry- 
onic stomach ;  and  these,  together  with  tiny  young  grasshopper 


160  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

nymphs  and  soft  small  cutworms,  continue  for  a  while  to 
form  the  food.  As  the  stomach  develops,  however,  the  diet 
changes ;  such  hard  insects  as  beetles  soon  become  a  part  of 
the  fare,  and  by  the  time  the  young  blackbirds  are  nearly  or 
quite  half  grown  their  stomachs  are  strong  enough  to  digest 
corn.  Corn  is  then  given  to  them  freely,  and  in  increasing 
quantity,  until,  when  they  are  ready  to  leave  the  nest,  it  forms 
about  one-quarter  of  their  food." 

Practically  all  of  the  insects  taken  by  this  species  are  nox- 
ious :  if  allowed  to  increase  without  stint,  they  would  eat  us 
out  of  house  and  home.  The  evidence  that  many  of  them 
are  consumed  is  conclusive.  It  is  also  evident  that  at  times 
blackbirds  are  an  insufferable  plague.  uAs  soon  as  the 
grain  is  in  the  ground,"  writes  Mr.  Charles  W.  Nash,  of 
Toronto,  Canada,  u  they  visit  the  newly  sown  fields  and  help 
themselves  liberally,  varying  their  diet  by  taking  as  many 
small  birds'  eggs  and  young  as  they  can  conveniently  get  at. 
I  have  on  several  occasions  seen  them  attack  and  carry  off 
young  robins,  in  spite  of  the  vigorous  defence  set  up  by  the 
victims'  parents."  Looking  at  the  record  from  both  sides 
there  seems  but  one  thing  for  a  sensible  man  to  do, — namely, 
so  long  as  the  bird  does  well,  let  him  alone  ;  when  he  becomes 
pernicious;  drive  him  off  or  kill  him. 

In  Stanley's  "  History  of  Birds"  (p.  197)  attention  is  called 
to  the  fact  that  a  bounty  for  the  "  Purple  Grackle  or  New 
England  Jackdaw"  is  recorded  in  King's  "Narrative"  (vol.  ii. 
p.  217),  where  it  is  stated  :  "  A  reward  of  three-pence  a  dozen 
was  once  awarded  in  that  country  for  the  extirpation  of  the 
Grackles ;  and  the  object  was  almost  affected,  at  the  cost  of 
the  inhabitants,  who  at  length  discovered  that  Providence  had 
not  formed  these  supposed  destructive  birds  in  vain ;  for,  not- 
withstanding they  caused  great  havoc  among  the  grain,  they 
made  ample  recompense  by  clearing  the  soil  of  noxious  worms, 
particularly  of  one  called  the  pease-beetle.  For  no  sooner 
were  the  birds  destroyed,  than  the  insects  multiplied  to  such 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,   AND   JAYS.       161 

a  degree,  as  to  cause  the  total  loss  of  the  grass  in  1749,  when 
the  colonists  had  to  get  their  hay  from  Pennsylvania  and 
even  from  Great  Britain." 

The  RED-WINGED  BLACKBIRD  is  a  summer  denizen  of  swamps 
and  marshes  throughout  temperate  North  America.  It  is  one 
of  the  earliest  birds  to  appear  in  spring  and  one  of  the  earliest 
to  leave  its  breeding-places,  though  the  final  departure  of  the 
great  flocks  that  congregate  in  suitable  places  in  August  is 


THE  RED-WINGED   BLACKBIRD. 
(After  Biological  Survey.} 

often  delayed  till  October  or  November.  While  feeding  their 
young,  red-wings  frequently  come  to  the  field  for  grasshoppers 
and  such  other  insects  as  are  to  be  found  there.  At  other 
seasons  they  are  seed-eaters  for  the  most  part.  Where  abun- 
dant, they  do  considerable  injury  both  to  newly  sown  grain 
and  to  ripening  crops.  In  some  States  bounties  have  been 
offered  for  their  heads.  Their  custom  of  congregating  in 
large  flocks  makes  their  evil  work  very  great  where  it  occurs. 

H 


162  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

Their  greatest  depredations  are  committed  in  the  grain-fields 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  in  the  southern  rice-fields. 

In  an  examination  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty-five 
stomachs  the  Department  of  Agriculture  found  seventy-four 
per  cent,  of  the  food  to  be  vegetable  matter,  the  remainder 
being  animal,  mainly  insects.  Weevils  and  snout-beetles 
amounted  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  June  food.  Beetles 
formed  ten  per  cent,  of  the  food  for  the  year ;  grasshoppers 
formed  about  five  per  cent.  Of  grain  only  corn,  wheat,  and 
oats  were  found  :  together  they  constituted  thirteen  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  food.  Weed  seed,  mainly  ragweed,  barn-grass, 
and  smartweed,  amounted  to  fifty-seven  per  cent.  A  sum- 
mary of  the  food  examined  reveals  the  fact  that  about  seven- 
eighths  of  the  red-wing's  diet  is  made  up  of  noxious  insects 
and  weed  seed.  Therefore,  while  locally  guilty  of  damage 
sufficient  to  justify  its  slaughter,  it  would  be  very  poor 
economy  to  persecute  this  bird  generally. 

The  food  of  the  young  birds  consists  almost  wholly  of  in- 
sects of  the  sorts  commonly  eaten  by  the  adults. 

The  Cow-BiRD  is  found  throughout  the  United  States,  except 
along  the  Pacific  coast.  Its  name  was  given  in  recognition  of 
its  fondness  for  bovine  society.  It  is  essentially  a  bird  of  the 
field,  spending  nearly  all  its  time  searching  for  food  in  fields 
and  pastures.  It  eats  insects,  grasshoppers,  beetles,  larvae, 
etc.,  in  summer,  and  takes  seeds  of  weeds  and  occasionally 
small  grains  at  other  seasons  to  a  considerable  extent.  So 
far  as  its  food  habits  are  concerned,  there  is  much  to  commend 
it,  but  as  a  parasite  on  other  birds  it  is  undoubtedly  noxious. 

Its  domestic  relations  are  decidedly  irregular.  Males  are 
more  numerous  than  females.  Polyandry  is  a  common  prac- 
tice. They  never  pair.  They  never  build  nests.  By  stealth 
eggs  are  deposited  in  other  birds'  nests,  to  be  hatched  and  the 
young  raised  by  foster-parents.  Here  is  where  the  cow-birds 
are  criminal  in  effect  if  not  in  intention.  The  cow-bird  egg 
is  laid  with  an  uncompleted  clutch.  It  hatches  more  quickly 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,   AND   JAYS.       163 

than  the  rightful  occupants ;  it  is  larger  than  they,  as  the 
hosts  are  almost  invariably  smaller  than  cow-birds, — warblers, 
vireos,  etc.  Thus  the  young  cow-bird  is  able  to  grow  rapidly, 
and  within  two  or  three  days  is  so  much  ahead  of  his'foster- 
brothers  and  -sisters  that  he  gets  all  the  food  and  they  die. 
It  appears  to  be  the  rule  that  a  cow-bird's  egg  laid  in  a  nest 
ruins  the  hopes  of  the  birds  that  built  it.  Every  young  cow- 
bird  is  reared  at  the  expense  of  anywhere  from  two  to  five 
other  birds,  each  of  which  is  of  more  value  than  he.  This 
makes  cow-birds  costly.  Whatever  benefits  we  derive  from 
their  food  habits  are  more  than  overcome  by  their  parasitic 
habits. 


THE   BOBOLINK. 

(After  Biological  Siircei/.) 


In  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  United  States,  it  is  safe  to 
assert,  there  is  no  more  popular  bird  among  country  folk  than 
the  BOBOLINK.  He  announces  his  corning  by  a  shower  of 
melody  from  the  clouds.  For  a  fortnight  he  revels  in  bachelor 
freedom,  in  glorious  apple-blossoms,  and  pours  forth  a  flood 


164  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

of  song.  On  the  arrival  of  the  females,  he  quickly  makes  a 
match  by  ardent  wooing,  and  with  all  the  impetuosity  of  his 
nature  settles  down  to  family  cares.  No  bird  is  a  more  de- 
voted parent.  Every  one  on  the  farm  is  a  witness  to  his 
solicitude.  The  mother  bird  is  perhaps  no  less  anxious  for 
the  welfare  of  her  children,  but  she  is  more  timid.  Not  alone 
for  sentimental  reasons  are  bobolinks  prized  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  their  summer  home-land,  for  they  are  highly  thought 
of  on  account  of  their  destructiveness  to  insects.  During 
this  season  they  eat  insects  almost  exclusively.  To  the  young 
they  bring  grasshoppers.  Careful  watching  at  the  nest  has 
shown  that  they  discriminate  as  to  color.  No  less  than  nine 
out  of  every  ten  'hoppers  brought  to  the  nest  are  green. 
There  appears  to  be  no  choice  of  species,  for  long-horned  and 
short-horned  'hoppers  were  brought  in  about  the  same  num- 
bers. As  a  rule,  nymphs  are  preferred  to  adult  specimens. 
So  far  as  the  bobolink's  conduct  in  the  North  is  concerned  it 
is  above  reproach. 

Early  in  August  there  is  a  gathering  together  of  families 
into  flocks,  and  the  movement  southward  is  begun.  Then 
come  trying  times  for  "bob"  and  his  enemies.  Along  the 
coast  of  the  Middle  Atlantic  States  reed-birds,  as  they  are 
called  there,  are  slain  for  the  table  by  untold  thousands. 
Further  south  they  enter  the  rice-fields  when  the  grain  is  in 
the  milk,  and  it  is  there  they  cast  off  virtue  and  become 
thieves.  The  rice-planters  have  abundant  cause  for  hating 
them  and  employ  destruction.  There  is  mutual  distress.  It 
has  been  stated  that  two  million  dollars'  worth  of  rice  is 
annually  destroyed.  The  number  of  birds  slain  is  beyond 
reckoning. 

In  spite  of  the  enormous  drain  upon  their  numbers,  the 
flocks  seem  as  numerous  as  ever.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  they  are  actually  decreasing.  It  does  not  seem  possible 
that  the  immense  numbers  annually  slain  in  the  South  can  be 
made  good.  Then,  in  New  Hampshire,  at  least,  farmers  past 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,   AND   JAYS.       165 

middle  age  state  that  bobolinks  are  not  nearly  so  common  in 
the  fields  as  they  were  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago.  While  it  may 
be  that  the  rice  destroyed  is  worth  more  than  the  slaughter 
of  insects,  there  is  no  certainty  that  it  is  so,  though  no  one 
can  blame  rice-planters  for  attempting  to  exterminate  the 
birds.  In  any  case,  those  who  know  the  bobolink  in  his 
northern  home  can  but  regard  with  complaisance  the  fact 
that  he  has  a  place  among  things  that  yet  exist. 

The  MEADOW-LARK,  with  its  "  bosom  of  prairie  buttercups, 
its  back  like  the  dead  grass  of  autumn,  and  its  song  which 


THE  MEADOW-LARK. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


harmonizes  well  with  the  prairie  winds,11  is  essentially  a  bird 
of  the  prairies.  But  it  is  not  confined  to  the  prairie  States : 
from  New  England  to  Florida,  from  Florida  to  Mexico,  from 
Mexico  to  Oregon,  and  from  Oregon  back  again  to  New  Eng- 
land, where  there  are  open  stretches  of  pasture  and  meadow 
lands,  one  is  likely  to  find  the  eastern  meadow-lark  or  its 
western  representative.  In  northern  localities  it  dwells  only 
in  summer,  migrating  southward  for  the  winter,  but  in  many 
Central  States  it  remains  throughout  the  year.  Its  nest  is 
built  on  the  ground  in  a  clump  of  grass  and  four  or  five 
young  are  reared. 


166  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

The  record  of  the  food  of  the  meadow-lark  is  unusually 
full  and  complete.  The  stomach  contents  of  ninety-three 
specimens  from  seven  widely  separated  States  (New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
and  Nebraska),  taken  during  March,  April,  May,  June,  July, 
August,  October,  and  November,  have  been  examined  by 
competent  investigators ;  the  results  prove  beyond  all  doubt 
that  this  is  a  bird  of  extraordinary  economic  value.  Thirty- 
three  specimens  from  various  parts  of  Illinois,  taken  during 
March,  April,  May,  June,  and  July,  were  studied  by  Forbes, 
who  found  that  three-fourths  of  the  food  consisted  of  insects, 
the  peculiar  animals  known  as  "thousand-legs"  and  grains 
of  corn  and  wheat  constituting  the  remainder.  Caterpillars 
formed  twenty-eight  per  cent,  of  the  food,  one-half  of  them 
being  cutworms  and  army-worms  and  one-fourth  the  hairy 
larvae  of  the  family  of  "tiger-moths."  Even  during  these 
early  months  grasshoppers  formed  thirteen  per  cent,  of  the 
stomach  contents,  and  beetles  of  various  kinds  twenty  per 
cent.,  one-fourth  of  them  being  ground-beetles  and  the  others 
including  June-beetles,  blister-beetles,  curculios,  click-beetles, 
and  plant-beetles.  One  bird  had  eaten  twenty  chinch-bugs, 
and  others  had  eaten  various  soldier-bugs.  Crane-flies  had 
been  occasionally  devoured.  "Considering  these  data  with 
reference  to  the  interest  of  the  farm  and  garden,"  writes 
Professor  Forbes,  "  we  must  admit  the  probable  eminent 
usefulness  of  this  bird.  Its  great  destruction  of  grasshoppers 
and  of  cutworms  and  other  caterpillars,  and  the  absence  of 
all  depredations  other  than  the  appropriation  of  scattered 
grains  of  corn  (often  picked,  no  doubt,  from  the  droppings  of 
stock),  taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  it  eats  only  the 
normal  average  of  predaceous  insects,  are  all  strong  indica- 
tions of  valuable  service  rendered,  with  unusually  fewr  draw- 
backs. It  supervises  our  grass-lands  much  more  closely  than 
the  bluebird  or  the  robin,  and  should  be  carefully  protected 
from  the  shotgun  and  birds-nesting  school-boy." 


THE   ORIOLES,  BLACKBIRDS,  CROWS,  AND   JAYS.       167 

Twenty-nine  Wisconsin  meadow-larks  studied  by  Professor 
King  had  eaten  forty  beetles,  including  a  May-beetle,  weevil, 
tiger-beetle,  and  ground-beetles ;  nineteen  grasshoppers ; 
many  caterpillars ;  one  dragon-fly,  and  a  single  thistle-seed. 
Ninety-nine  per  cent,  of  the  stomach  contents  of  thirty 
specimens  from  various  places  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee,  shot  during  October  and 
November  and  studied  by  Dr.  C.  H.  Merriam,  consisted  of 
insects,  including  twenty-five  caterpillars,  fifty-seven  grass- 
hoppers, and  more  than  eighty  beetles.  The  seeds  of  clover, 
wheat,  oats,  corn,  and  various  weeds  and  grasses  were  also 
eaten  to  a  slight  extent.  Eight  Nebraska  meadow-larks  had 
eaten  two  hundred  and  thirteen  locusts  as  well  as  locusts1 
eggs  and  many  other  insects. 

uThe  farmer  cannot  afford,1'  writes  Dr.  S.  D.  Judd,  "to 
dispense  with  the  services  of  the  meadow-lark,  for  it 
busies  itself  all  summer  eating  grasshoppers  and  noxious 
insects,  and  when  autumn  comes  varies  its  diet  with  rag- 
weed, pigeon-grass,  and  other  weeds,  until  in  December 
these  noxious  plants  comprise  twenty-five  per  cent:  of  its 
food.11 

There  has  been  much  discussion  concerning  the  economic 
status  of  the  COMMON  CROW.  By  some  people  its  merits  are 
believed  to  be  greater  than  its  defects :  by  others  it  is  con- 
sidered an  unmitigated  nuisance.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt 
that,  on  the  whole,  the  crow  is  not  a  bird  to  be  encouraged, 
although  it  is  not  desirable  that  it  be  altogether  exterminated. 
It  is  a  widely  distributed  species,  occurring  throughout  the 
United  States,  though  much  more  abundant  in  some  localities 
than  in  others.  The  birds  are  wary,  having  learned  wisdom 
from  experience,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  within  shooting 
range  of  them.  The  crime  that  is  most  commonly  laid 
against  them  is  that  of  digging  or  pulling  up  newly  planted 
grains,  such  as  wheat  and  Indian  corn,  especially  the  latter; 
in  the  Eastern  States  this  has  led  to  the  almost  universal  use 


168 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


of  scarecrows  of  some  kind.  The  damage  done  in  this  way 
is  sometimes  very  great,  often  causing  the  loss  of  one-third 
of  the  crop,  although,  as  a  rule,  the  injury  is  slight.  This 
seems  to  be  an  acquired  habit,  belonging  to  comparatively 
few  of  the  crows.  One  Missouri  observer  reports  that  he 
once  saw  eight  crows  in  his  corn-field,  two  parents  and  six 
young.  u  One  was  pulling  the  corn,  one  standing  idle,  and  six 
eating  the  grain  after  it  was  pulled  up."  Isolated  fields  and 
those  near  the  nesting-sites  are  usually  much  more  liable  to 


THE  COMMON  CROW. 
(After  Warren.) 

injury  than  others.  Later  in  the  season,  when  the  corn  is 
in  the  soft,  milky  stage  preceding  ripening,  the  crows  again 
attack  it,  tearing  the  husks  from  the  ears  and  picking  out  the 
kernels. 

In  some  parts  of  New  England  and  Canada  the  crow  is 
accused  of  serious  injury  to  recently  planted  potato  fields. 
When  the  plants  appear  above  ground  the  birds  pull  them  up 
to  get  at  and  devour  the  partially  decayed  tubers  that  were 
used  for  "  seed."  In  the  South  rice  and  pea-nuts  are  said  to 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,   AND   JAYS.       169 

be  also  attacked,  while  in  various  regions  injuries  to  small 
fruits  have  been  reported. 

One  of  the  most  serious  flaws  in  the  character  of  the  crow 
is  his  fondness  for  eggs  and  young  birds,  either  in  the  poultry- 
yard  or  out  of  it.  In  some  localities  crows  are  more  dreaded 
by  the  poultry-keepers  than  hawks,  as  they  destroy  young 
chickens  before  the  latter  are  past  the  downy  stage.  The 
eggs  of  hens,  ducks,  and  turkeys  are  also  appropriated.  Like 
the  corn-pulling  habit,  this  thieving  seems  to  be  confined  to 
certain  individuals,  and  it  is  done  chiefly  to  get  food  for  the 
nestlings. 

That  the  crow  is  an  inveterate  enemy  of  many  of  our  wild 
birds  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  evidence  in  hand  con- 
clusively proves  that  it  robs  the  nests  of  the  commoner 
thrushes,  such  as  the  wood-thrush,  brown  thrasher,  and 
robin,  as  well  as  those  of  the  orioles,  blackbirds,  sparrows, 
quail,  grouse,  woodpeckers,  swallows,  warblers,  and  others. 
Both  eggs  and  young  birds  are  taken.  u  In  all  the  dark  history 
of  the  crow's  relations  to  other  birds,1'  writes  Professor  Bar- 
rows, u  there  is  nothing  which  can  fairly  be  called  a  bright 
spot,  and  only  here  and  there  a  record  is  found  which  serves 
to  render  the  page  a  little  less  gloomy.  One  of  the  grains  of 
comfort  is  found  in  the  fact  that  in  its  wholesale  attacks  on 
other  birds  a  few  species  suffer  which  are  scarcely  better  than 
itself."  Any  claim  to  favor  which  the  crows  may  have  is 
based  largely  on  its  insect-eating  proclivities.  But  the  defi- 
nite knowledge  as  yet  obtained  goes  to  show  that  the  crow 
can  scarcely  prove  itself  a  philanthropist  on  this  score. 
While  the  bird  undoubtedly  eats  large  numbers  of  grass- 
hoppers, the  other  elements  of  its  insect  food  are  not  of  great 
economic  importance,  consisting  as  largely  of  the  so-called 
beneficial  species  as  of  the  injurious  ones.  This  is  shown  by 
the  following  table,  which  gives  the  economic  results  of  a 
study,  made  at  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  of  the  insect 
food  of  sixty-six  crows : 


170 


BIRDS    IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


ORDERS. 

SPECIES. 

INDIVIDUALS. 

Beneficial. 

Injurious. 

Neutral. 

I 

17 
6 
1 
47 
3 
17 
1 

Beneficial. 

Injurious. 

Neutral. 

I 

Hymenoptera  .    .    . 

16 
0 
1 
23 
1 
0 
0 

1 
6 
0 
16 
1 
17 
0 

0 
0 
0 

8 
1 
0 

1 

126 
0 
1 
85 
1 
0 
0 

8 
16 
0 
57 
1 
150 
0 

0 
0 
0 
32 
1 
0 
18 

134 
16 
1 
174 
3 
150 
18 

Lepidoptera 

Diptera 

Coleoptera 

Hemiptera 

Orthoptera    
Neuroptera 

Total  .    .    .    .'-.    .    .    . 

41 

41 

10 

92 

213 

232 

51 

496 

A  number  of  observers  have  reported  that  the  crow  kills 
and  eats  field-mice  and  pocket  gophers.  Others  claim  that 
it  is  useful  as  a  scavenger,  feeding  on  carrion.  It  is  also 
known  to  feed  largely  on  various  wild  berries,  such  as  those 
of  the  Virginia  creeper,  dogwood,  bayberry,  red  cedar,  elder, 
wintergreen,  poke  weed,  smilax,  poison-ivy,  and  poison- 
sumach.  It  scatters  the  seeds  of  these  plants  far  and  wide, 
and  the  fact  of  its  thus  aiding  in  the  distribution  of  poison- 
ivy  and  poison-sumach  has  been  considered  one  point  against 
the  bird. 

Professor  Barrows  has  summarized  the  evidence  for  and 
against  the  crow  as  follows:  "(1)  Crows  seriously  damage 
the  corn  crop,  and  injure  other  grain  crops,  usually  to  a  less 
extent.  (2)  They  damage  other  farm  crops  to  some  extent, 
frequently  doing  much  mischief.  (3)  They  are  very  de- 
structive to  the  eggs  and  young  of  domesticated  fowls.  (4) 
They  do  incalculable  damage  to  the  eggs  and  young  of  native 
birds.  (5)  They  do  much  harm  by  the  distribution  of  seeds 
of  poison-ivy,  poison-sumach,  and  perhaps  other  noxious 
plants.  (6)  They  do  much  harm  by  the  destruction  of  bene- 
ficial insects.  On  the  other  hand,  (1)  They  do  much  good 
by  the  destruction  of  injurious  insects.  (2)  They  are  largely 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,  AND   JAYS.       171 

beneficial  through  their  destruction  of  mice  and  other  rodents. 
(3)  They  are  valuable  occasionally  as  scavengers." 

The  MAGPIE,  ranging  from  Arizona  to  Alaska  and  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  coast,  except  a  part  of  California  in 
which  it  is  replaced  by  the  yellow-billed  variety  known  as 
Nuttall's  magpie,  although  of  handsome  appearance,  has  some 
traits  that  are  utterly  disreputable  and  scarcely  one  that  may 
be  called  valuable.  He  is  a  thief,  stealing  the  hunter's  game, 
the  traveller's  supplies,  even .  his  very  dinner  before  him. 
Worse  than  all,  he  is  an  assassin,  a  torturer  without -a  heart, 
merciless.  Young  birds  are  tidbits  for  him.  With  bound- 
less audacity  he  assaults  horses  and  mules,  galled  by  their 
harnesses  and  reduced  by  continuous  packing  over  rough 
trails,  lacerating  their  raw  flesh  and  sometimes  even  going  so 
far  as  to  put  out  their  eyes.  If  people  will  have  cage-birds, 
here  is  a  proper  victim.  A  criminal  by  nature,  he  may  be 
confined  without  compunction.  His,  odd  and  knowing  ways 
make  him  an  interesting  pet,  and  after  once  becoming  accus- 
tomed to  a  cage,  captivity  does  not  appear  a  hardship  for  him. 
Economically  the  magpie  is  a  failure. 

The  BLUE-JAY  is  a  resident  over  the  whole  of  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Great  Plains.  Its  home  is  in  the  woods, 
though  it  makes  frequent  excursions  to  orchards  and  orna- 
mental trees  about  the  farmstead.  These  birds  are  seen  to 
best  advantage  among  the  nut  trees  in  autumn.  Then  is  the 
time  of  their  harvest.  From  tree  to  tree  they  go  in  troops, 
calling  in  glee,  swishing  the  branches,  rattling  down  nuts, 
forcing  an  opening  by  well-directed  blows  of  their  powerful 
bills  through  hard  shells,  or  busily  engaged  in  hoarding  sup- 
plies in  crevices  for  use  in  the  coming  season  of  want.  Hearty, 
energetic,  versatile,  the  jay  at  this  season  is  worth  watching. 
As  to  food,  he  is  essentially  a  vegetarian  by  preference. 
Nothing  suits  his  taste  quite  so  well  as  nuts, — acorns,  chest- 
nuts, beechnuts,  and  similar  kinds,  having  rather  thin  shells. 
Sometimes  a  flock  will  develop  a  taste  for  corn,  and  do  more 


172 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 


or  less  damage  as  it  stands  in  the  field,  but  this  is  by  no 
means  chargeable  to  all  blue-jays,  as  there  are  undoubtedly 
many  that  never  tasted  a  kernel. 

In  spring  and  summer,  insects,  fruit,  and  a  variety  of  mis- 
cellaneous matter  are  eaten.  The  jay  is  quite  as  unscrupulous 
as  the  crow,  which  it  resembles  in  many  ways.  Birds'  nests 
are  occupied  at  the  season  when  it  is  obliged  to  forage  widely 
for  supplies,  and  eggs  and  young  are  sometimes  carried  off 
and  devoured.  Just  how  prevalent  this  unfortunate  habit  is 
has  not  been  determined,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
individual  jays,  at  least,  do  much  damage  in  this  manner. 


THE  BLUE-JAY. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

An  examination  of  two  hundred  and  ninety-two  stomachs, 
collected  in  every  month  of  the  year  from  twenty-two  States 
and  the  District  of  Columbia,  made  by  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  at  Washington,  showed  that  practically  three- 
fourths  of  the  food  was  vegetable.  Forty-two  per  cent,  of 
the  year's  average  was  "mast," — a  comprehensive  term  for 
nuts  and  large  seeds  of  trees  and  shrubs.  Corn  was  found 
in  seventy-one  stomachs  and  amounted  to  about  eighteen  per 
cent,  for  the  year.  The  stomachs  taken  in  autumn  showed 
conclusively  that  these  birds  prefer  nuts  to  corn. 


THE   ORIOLES,   BLACKBIRDS,   CROWS,  AND   JAYS.       173 

In  spring  more  or  less  fruit  is  consumed.  In  March  apples 
frozen  on  the  trees  amounted  to  thirty-two  per  cent.  Fresh 
fruit  is  taken  quite  largely  in  June  and  July,  averaging  about 
thirty-five  per  cent,  for  the  two  months.  Of  this  strawberries, 
currants,  blackberries,  and  mulberries  were  the  only  cultivated 
species,  and  none  of  these  were  taken  in  much  quantity. 

The  insects  eaten  were  mainly  beetles,  grasshoppers,  and 
caterpillars.  Most  of  the  beetles  belonged  to  the  familes 
Carabidce  and  Scarabceidce.  Grasshoppers  and  caterpillars  are 
both  eaten  quite  extensively.  Walnut  caterpillars  (Datana) 
are  sometimes  destroyed  in  great  numbers. 

In  this  analysis  only  two  stomachs  contained  traces  of 
egg-shells  of  small  birds,  and  only  one,  remains  of  young. 
In  a  few  stomachs  were  found  remains  of  fish,  salamanders, 
frogs,  mice,  and  a  shrew. 

Except  in  cases  where  blue-jays  are  actually  engaged  in 
depredations  it  is  unwise  to  destroy  them.  As  a  rule,  they 
are  beneficial. 


HEAD  OF  PURPLE  CRACKLE. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


THE    FLYCATCHERS,   HUMMING-BIRDS,  SWIFTS,  AND    NIGHT- 
HAWKS. 

THE    FLYCATCHERS. 

To  the  naturalist  who  wanders  much  afield  the  PHCEBE,  or 
PEWEE,  is  one  of  the  dearest  of  feathered  friends.  For  it  is 
a  familiar  companion  in  the  North  from  spring  until  autumn 
and  in  the  South  throughout  the  winter.  It  makes  its  home 
on  almost  every  farm,  so  that  the  sight  of  it  evokes  in  the 
mind  of  every  one  brought  up  in  the  country  tender  memo- 
ries of  early  associations.  Nearly  all  of  its  food  consists  of 
,f .  ..  insects,  most  of  which 

are  captured  in  the  air. 
Perched  upon  an  ex- 
posed twig  or  a  dead 
mullein-stalk,  the  bird 
scans  with  eager  eye  the 
surrounding  space,  alert 
for  any  winged  thing 
that  may  come  Avithin  its 
range  of  vision.  When 
a  beetle  or  a  moth  flies 
by,  the  bird  darts  quickly 
towards  it,  snaps  its  ca- 
pacious beak,  and  the  career  of  the  insect  is  ended.  Return- 
ing at  once  to  its  perch,  the  phoebe  waits  patiently  for  another 
morsel.  Thus  it  spends  its  days. 

A  careful  examination    of  the   contents  of  many  phoebe 

stomachs   by   experts    at   Washington    "showed   that   over 

ninety-three  per  cent,  of  the  year's  food  consists  of  insects 

and  spiders,  while  wild  fruit  constitutes  the  remainder."     The 

174 


THE  PHCEBE. 


THE   FLYCATCHERS.  175 

insects  are  chiefly  of  species  injurious  to  man's  interests,  so 
that  these  feathered  friends  are  of  great  utility  in  reducing 
the  hordes  of  noxious  pests. 

The  nest  of  the  phcebe  is  built  by  preference  upon  the 
timbers  of  a  bridge,  with  the  murmur  of  running  water  just 
beneath.  It  is  composed  of  mud  and  moss  plastered  against 
the  side  of  the  support.  When  it  is  completed  the  mother  bird 
lays  four  or  five  white  eggs,  which  are  faithfully  incubated 
until  they  hatch  into  hungry  birdlings  that  keep  the  parents 
busy  bringing  food.  The  young  are  fed  wholly  with  insects 
and  their  allies,  including  chiefly  moths,  grasshoppers,  ants, 
spiders,  and  similar  creatures. 

The  phoebe  is  so  universal  a  favorite  that  it  has  not  wanted 
champions  wherever  it  is  found.  But  the  knowledge  of  its 
exceeding  usefulness  should  win  for  it  more  friends,  who 
shall  encourage  its  increase  in  every  way  possible.  For 
surely  there  can  be  no  straining  of  the  quality  of  mercy  in 
protecting  these  feathered  creatures:  such  rnercy  is  thrice 
blessed, — for  it  blesses  first  the  birds,  second  ourselves,  and 
third  our  children  and  our  children's  children  in  trans- 
mitting to  them  undirninished  Nature's  heritage  of  man's 
allies. 

The  KINGBIRD  is  noted  for  its  pugnacious  antipathy  to 
hawks  and  crows,  and  is  esteemed  by  agriculturists  for  this 
quality  which  makes  it  a  veritable  knight  of  the  farm.  It  is 
familiar  with  mankind,  makes  its  home  in  the  orchard,  and 
takes  no  pains  to  hide  its  nest.  The  protection  it  affords 
against  marauding  birds  is  not  more  important  than  its 
benefits  as  an  insect  destroyer.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  its  food 
consists  of  insects,  including  such  noxious  species  as  May- 
beetles,  click-beetles,  wheat  and  fruit  weevils,  grasshoppers, 
and  leaf-hoppers. 

Bee-keepers  have  made  the  claim  against  the  kingbird  that 
it  is  destructive  to  bees,  but  evidence  furnished  by  dissections 
tends  to  prove  that  this  damage  is  really  of  slight  conse- 


176 


BIRDS   IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


quence.  It  is  recorded  of  an  Iowa  apiarist  that  he  suspected 
these  birds  of  eating  his  bees  and  shot  several  near  his  hives, 
but  when  examined  by  an  expert  entomologist  no  bees  were 
found  in  their  stomachs.  Of  two  hundred  and  eighty-one 
stomachs  opened  by  the  Biological  Survey,  only  fourteen 
contained  honey-bees,  fifty  in  all,  forty  drones,  four  workers, 
and  six  undetermined.  The  destruction  of  the  drones  was  a 
benefit,  and  the  few  workers  were  more  than  compensated 
for  by  nineteen  robber  flies  that  had  been  eaten.  Small 
fruits,  such  as  elder-berries,  blackberries,  and  wild  cherries, 

make  up  ten  per 
cent,  of  its  food. 
In  southern  Louisi- 
ana it  partakes  of 
berries  of  the  prickly 
ash  and  tobasco  pep- 
pers and  is  regarded 
as  a  pest  by  pepper- 
planters.  This  spicy 
diet  gives  its  flesh  a 
pungent  flavor 
which  makes  it 
sought  for  the  table, 
and  numbers  are 
annually  killed  for 
market.  The  food 
of  the  young  kingbirds  consists  almost  wholly  of  insects, 
nearly  half  of  it  being  crickets  and  grasshoppers  when  these 
are  abundant. 

The  other  common  flycatchers — the  GREAT  CRESTED,  the 
LEAST,  and  the  WOOD  PEWEE — appear  to  have  feeding  habits 
very  similar  to  the  phoebe  and  the  kingbird,  although,  of 
course,  woodland  species  find  insects  of  quite  different  sorts 
from  those  in  cultivated  spaces. 


THE   KINGBIRD. 

(After  Biological  Survey.) 


THE   HUMMING-BIRD    AND   THE   CHIMNEY-SWIFT.       177 


THE    HUMMING-BIRD. 

Only  one  species — the  RUBYTHROAT — of  the  beautiful  family 
of  humming-birds  (Trochilidce)  occurs  in  the  Northern  States. 
This  feathered  sprite  is  rather  common  and  may  often  be  seen 
hovering  before  flowers,  from  which  it  extracts  nectar  and 
minute  insects  and  spiders.  Considerable  discussion  has 
taken  place  as  to  whether  its  food  consisted  mainly  of  insects 
or  nectar :  the  relative  proportion  of  the  two  elements  prob- 
ably varies  with  the  season  and  locality.  When  the  sap  of 
trees  is  obtainable,  the  birds  appear  to  prefer  it  to  any  other 
food.  They  regularly  visit  trees  perforated  by  yellow-bellied 
sapsuckers :  Mr.  Frank  Bolles  says  that  in  the  White  Moun- 
tains of  New  Hampshire,  "  the  humming-birds,  at  '  orchards' 
where  they  are  not  molested  by  the  woodpeckers,  drink  scores 
of  times  in  the  course  of  the  long  summer  day.  When  not 
drinking  they  are  usually  perched  on '  twigs  a  few  yards  from 
the  holes,  keeping  their  nervous  heads  wagging  from  side  to 
side  while  watching  for  intruders.  In  a  few  instances  I  have 
seen  humming-birds  perch  upon  the  bark  below  the  holes,  in 
order  to  drink  long  without  being  forced  to  keep  their  wings 
moving  while  enjoying  the  sweet  sap."1  The  young  are  fed 
chiefly  upon  minute  insects,  such  as  gnats,  ants,  and  small 
bees.  According  to  Mr.  William  Brewster's  observations,  the 
young  are  fed  by  regurgitation. 

THE    CHIMNEY-SWIFT. 

The  swifts  (Cypselidce)  are  represented  in  eastern  North 
America  by  but  one  species,  the  abundant  CHIMNEY-SWIFT,  or 
CHIMNEY-SWALLOW,  a  bird  of  marvellous  powers  of  flight, 
with  small  and  slender  body,  long,  pointed  wings,  and  not  a 
grain  of  superfluous  flesh :  an  aerial  thoroughbred,  built  for 
cleaving  the  air  in  chase  of  the  insect  quarry  that  forms  its 

1  Science,  vol.  xx.  p.  318. 
12 


178  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

food.  Before  the  discovery  of  America,  when  the  rude 
smoke-holes  that  served  as  chimneys  for  the  wigwams  and 
long-houses  of  Choctaw  or  of  Iroquois  extended  no  invitation 
for  these  birds  to  nest  in  them,  hollow  trees  more  or  less 
open  at  the  top  took  the  place  of  the  modern  chimney.  In 
thinly  settled  districts  of  the  West  such  trees  are  still  used 
for  the  purpose.  The  nest  is  built  of  little  twigs  broken  off 
from  the  trees  while  the  bird  is  in  full  flight,  which  are  stuck 
together  and  to  the  sides  of  the  chimney  or  tree  by  saliva. 
The  same  nest  is  sometimes  used  for  two  or  three  seasons. 
A  large  number  of  birds  often  choose  the  same  tree  or 
chimney  for  breeding  and  roosting  purposes. 

The  chimney-swifts  are  abroad  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and 
night,  but  fly  most  freely  from  earliest  dawn  till  soon  after 
sunrise,  and  again  before  sunset  till  after  dark.  Doubtless  at 
such  times  the  insects  on  which  they  feed  are  most  abundant 
in  the  air.  Their  food  is  varied,  probably  consisting  of  almost 
all  the  flying  insects  with  which  they  come  in  contact.  Three 
specimens  studied  by  Professor  S.  A.  Forbes  had  eaten  ants, 
moths,  ground-beetles,  rove-beetles,  plant-beetles,  flies,  bugs, 
and  spiders.  The  young  are  fed  largely  upon  grasshoppers 
when  these  are  abundant,  and  at  other  times  on  various  kinds 
of  insects. 

There  has  long  been  prevalent  a  popular  idea  that  these 
birds  winter  in  a  lethargic  state  in  chimneys  and  hollow  trees, 
but  all  well-informed  ornithologists  declare  this  statement  to 
be  preposterous.  According  to  Stejneger  the  chimney-swifts 
are  found  in  Mexico  in  winter.  It  would  be  very  strange  if  a 
bird  of  such  powers  of  flight  as  this  should  choose  to  sleep 
away  the  cold  season,  instead  of  basking  in  the  sunshine  of 
the  South  to  be  reached  in  so  short  a  time. 

THE    NIGHTHAWK    AND    THE    WHIPPOORWILL. 

The  strange  family  of  goatsuckers,  or  night-jars  (Caprimul- 
gidce),  is  represented  in  the  United  States  by  eleven  species 


THE   NIGHTHAWK   AND   THE   WHIPPOORWILL.          179 

and  subspecies,  only  two  of  which,  however,  are  commonly 
found  over  the  largest  portion  of  our  country,  the  others 
occurring  in  the  Southern  or  Southwestern  States.  Every 
one  is  familiar  with  the  plaintive  cry  of  the  WHIPPOORWILL, 
one  of  the  commonest  members  of  this  group.  It  is  a  noc- 
turnal bird  and  secludes  itself  by  day  in  the  darkest  recesses 
of  the  woods.  In  such  places  also  the  young  are  reared,  the 
two  creamy  white,  brown-blotched  eggs  being  deposited  on 
the  ground  or  on  a  log  or  stump,  with  no  attempt  at  a  nest. 
By  night  it  flies  rapidly  through  the  air,  catching  in  its  capa- 
cious mouth  flying  insects  of  many  kinds.  The  few  stomachs 
that  have  been  examined  show  that  it  feeds  largely  on  night- 
flying  moths,  sometimes  taking  those  having  a  wing  expanse 
of  two  inches.  Click-beetles  and  other  beetles  are  also  often 
devoured.  Four-fifths  of  the  food  of  one  specimen  consisted 
of  injurious  grasshoppers.  One  Ontario  specimen  had  its 
stomach  filled  with  u  the  large  female  wingless  ants,  which 
could  only  have  been  obtained  upon  the  ground,  and  in  all 
probability  in  the  daytime."1 

The  NIGHTHAWK,  or  BULL-BAT,  is  seen  much  oftener  than 
the  whippoorwill,  on  account  of  its  greater  abundance  and  its 
habit  of  flying  about  everywhere,  especially  on  dark  days  and 
towards  dusk.  Small  flocks  of  them  may  frequently  be  seen 
cleaving  the  air  in  all  directions,  corning  close  to  men  and 
houses  in  their  rapid  evolutions.  Its  two  eggs  are  laid  on  the 
ground,  generally  in  secluded  situations,  although  of  late  it 
often  uses  the  flat  roofs  of  Boston  houses  as  nesting-places. 
It  is  a  great  insect  eater,  its  food  consisting  of  May-flies, 
dragon-flies,  beetles  of  many  kinds,  "  water  boatmen,"  scor- 
pion-flies, bugs  of  various  sorts,  and  many  grasshoppers. 
From  seven  Nebraska  specimens  Professor  Augliey  took  three 
hundred  and  forty-eight  Rocky  Mountain  locusts,  an  average 
of  forty-nine  to  each  bird.  An  Arkansas  specimen  examined 

1  Nash,  Birds  of  Ontario,  p.  29. 


180  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

by  F.  L.  Harvey  contained  more  than  six  hundred  insects, — 
gnats,  beetles,  flies,  ants,  and  grasshoppers.  Professor  Her- 
rick  has  found  that  the  young  are  fed  largely  on  firefly  beetles. 
The  nighthawk  frequently  suffers  from  the  thoughtless 
cruelty  of  amateur  gunners  who  shoot  at  them  as  they  fly  in 
the  air.  This  is  unworthy  u  sport"  for  boy  or  man.  These 
birds  are  not  only  very  useful  as  insect  destroyers,  but,  as  Mr. 
E.  B.  Williamson  has  written,  they  are  also  "handsome  birds, 
adding  much  to  the  twilight  beauty  of  a  summer  evening  as 
the  scattered  flocks  pass  with  easy  and  graceful  flight  over 
fields  and  woodland." 


THE  LUNA   MOTH. 
Slightly  reduced. 


Photographed  from  life  by  Dr.  It.  W.  Shufeldt. 

THE   RED-HEADED   WOODPECKER. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE  WOODPECKERS,  KINGFISHERS,  AND  CUCKOOS. 
THE  WOODPECKERS. 

IN  a  general  way  each  family  of  birds  is  set  apart  to  perform 
certain  special  functions  in  the  economy  of  nature.  To  the 
woodpeckers  has  been  assigned  the  task  of  keeping  in  check 
the  borers  concealed  beneath  the  bark  of  trees,  and,  inciden- 
tally, of  devouring  any  other  insects  which  may  be  scattered 
about  the  trunk  and  branches.  With  the  single  exception 
•of  the  yellow-bellied  species,  all  our  woodpeckers  appear  to 
be  eminently  beneficial.  The  peculiarities  of  their  structure 
eminently  fit  them  for  their  special  work :  the  feet  generally 
have  two  toes  in  front  and  two  behind,  all  armed  with, sharp 
claws,  enabling  the  birds  to  hop  up  trees  with  ease ;  the  tail 
feathers  are  short,  stiff,  and  rigid,  serving  as  a  support  when 
the  bird  gives  hammer-like  strokes  with  its  chisel-shaped  beak  ; 
and  the  tongue,  in  all  except  the  yellow-bellied  species,  is 
extensile  and  generally  barbed  on  the  edges  near  the  tip,  so 
that  it  can  be  thrust  into  burrows  to  impale  the  occupants. 
There  are  about  thirty  forms  of  the  Picidse — the  woodpecker 
family — recognized  in  North  America.  Most  of  them  remain 
throughout  the  year  in  the  localities  in  which  they  occur. 

The  IVORY-BILLED  WOODPECKER  is  the  monarch  of  the  family. 
It  is  a  large,  handsome,  powerfully  built  bird,  twenty  inches 
long,  with  a  wing  expanse '  of  thirty  inches.  Occurring  only 
in  the  Southern  States,  it  there  is  found  in  the  deepest  woods 
and  swamps,  far  away  from  human  habitations.  The  PILEATED 
WOODPECKER  is  a  species  nearly  as  large  as  the  one  just  men- 
tioned and  has  similar  habits,  though  it  is  more  generally 
distributed  over  the  United  States.  Both  are  rare  birds, 
inhabiting  solitary  forests ;  on  account  of  their  shyness,  they 

181 


182 


BIRDS    IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


are  not  likely  ever  to  have  much  economic  importance  in 
civilized  communities.  Analyses  of  the  stomach  contents 
of  the  pileated  species  have  shown  that  it  feeds  largely  on 
ants,  beetles,  and  other  insects  which  it  finds  in  dead  trees 
and  logs,  the  beetle  larvae  that  bore  into  the  trunks  of  trees 
being  especially  taken.  It  also  feeds  upon  the  seeds  and 
berries  of  many  sorts  of  wild  fruits,  such  as  the  sour-gum, 
flowering  dogwood,  black  haw,  hackberry,  persimmon,  wild 
grapes,  Virginia  creeper,  greenbrier,  sumac,  and  poison-ivy. 
In  the  stomachs  analyzed  by  the  Biological  Survey  the  animal 
and  vegetable  matter  was  about  equally  divided. 


THE  HAIRY  WOODPECKER. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


Either  the  typical  form  or  that  of  some  variety  of  the 
HAIRY  WOODPECKER  occurs  commonly  in  most  parts  of  North 
America.  This  is  a  particularly  useful  bird,  visiting  freely  the 
kings  of  the  forest,  as  well  as  the  fruit-trees  of  the  orchard 
and  the  shade  and  ornamental  trees  of  the  home  grounds, 
the  park,  or  the  public  thoroughfare.  It  nests  in  holes  in 


THE  WOODPECKERS,   KINGFISHERS,  AND   CUCKOOS.      183 

trees,  usually  in  the  forest,  and  rears  from  four  to  six  young. 
No  birds  search  more  persistently  for  the  wood-boring  grubs 
living  beneath  the  bark  of  trees,  many  of  which — like  the 
flat-headed  borer — are  the  most  vexatious  enemies  of  the 
fruit-grower.  During  their  meanderings  over  the  trunk  and 
larger  limbs  they  often  startle  moths  and  other  nocturnal 
insects,  which  they  devour  whenever  opportunity  offers,  and 
they  also  penetrate  the  disguise  of  many  geometric  caterpillars 
and  cut  short  their  deceptive  careers.  A  good  idea  of  the  gen- 
eral diet  of  the  species  may  be  obtained  from  Professor  King's 
statement  that  of  twenty-one  specimens  examined, .  "  eleven 
had  eaten  fifty-two  wood-boring  larvae  ;  five,  thirteen  geometric 
caterpillars  ;  ten,  one  hundred  and  five  ants  ;  six,  ten  beetles ; 
two,  two  cockroaches ;  two,  nine  egg-cases  of  cockroaches ; 
two,  two  moths  ;  one,  a  small  snail ;  one,  green  corn  ;  one,  a 
wild  cherry  ;  and  one,  red  elder-berries."  More  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  food  of  eighty-two  specimens  studied  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  was  animal  matter,  chiefly  insects. 

In  the  presence  of  an  unusual  abundance  of  grasshoppers 
the  hairy  woodpeckers  feed  freely  on  them ;  four  Nebraska 
specimens  had  eaten  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  of  these 
insects.  They  also  do  good  service  in  penetrating  the  cocoons 
of  the  cecropia  emperor  moth,  the  larvse  of  which  devour 
the  foliage  of  fruit-  and  shade-trees.  A  number  of  observers 
have  reported  that  these  birds  push  their  beaks  through  the 
tough  cocoons  until  the  pupae  inside  are  reached,  the  juices  of 
the  latter  being  sucked  away.  They  have  also  been  credited 
with  having  in  1880  ''cleaned  elm-trees  in  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
of  the  cocoons  of  the  tussock-moth." 

Concerning  the  beneficent  habits  of  the  hairy  woodpecker, 
Dr.  P.  R.  Hoy,  a  well-known  naturalist,  wrote  many  years 
ago :  "  Cheerful  and  industrious,  he  is  always  on  the  lookout 
for  those  worms  that  burrow  in  the  substance  of  the  wood  or 
under  the  bark  of  trees.  He  is  an  expert  at  auscultation  and 
percussion,  and  he  is  not  indebted  to  Laennec  for  the  art 


184  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

either.  As  he  explores  suspicious  localities  with  gentle  taps, 
he  quickly  detects  the  evidences  of  unsoundness,  and  is  not 
slow  to  learn  the  cause.  Worms  is  his  hobby  :  soon  he  chips 
an  opening,  and  with  his  long,  slender  tongue,  armed  with  a 
barbed  lance-point, — a  capital  tool, — he  soon  extracts  the 
cause  of  the  evil.  While  engaged  in  '  worming'  he  continues 
to  utter  his  cheerful  Plick,plick!  in  a  major  key,  as  if  con- 
scious that  he  is  engaged  in  a  good  cause  and  not  ashamed 


THE  CECROPIA  MOTH  AND  ITS  COCOON   (REDUCED). 

to  own  it.  You  can  always  tell  where  he  is.  A  few  ears 
of  corn  is  about  all  the  pay  he  takes  for  his  valuable  work. 
Protect  him  ;  he  is  our  friend." 

In  habits,  manner,  and  dress  the  DOWNY  WOODPECKER  seems 
but  a  miniature  copy  of  its  hairy  cousin.  It  more  com- 
monly frequents  orchards  and  is  often  called  the  "  sapsucker," 
but  this  is  a  misnomer,  as  that  name  should  be  confined  to 
the  yellow-bellied  species.  Although  it  bores  holes  in  the 


THE  WOODPECKERS,  KINGFISHERS,  AND  CUCKOOS.      185 

bark  of  apple-trees,  it  does  not  revisit  them  to  suck  the  sap, 
according  to  the  habit  of  the  last-named  bird  ;  and  the  holes 
seem  usually  not  to  injure  the  tree.  Seventeen  Wisconsin 
specimens  had  eaten  forty  insect  larvae,  including  twenty 
wood-boring  grubs  and  three  caterpillars,  seven  ants,  four 
beetles,  a  chrysalid,  one  hundred  and  ten  small  bugs,  and  a 
spider,  together  with  a  few  acorns  and  small  seeds,  and  a 
little  woody  fibre  apparently  taken  by  accident  along  with  the 
grubs.  Three-fourths  of  the  food  of  one  hundred  and  forty 
specimens  examined  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  con- 
sisted of  insects.  Nearly  one-fourth  consisted  of  ants,  taken 
chiefly  from  those  which  are  attending  aphides  or  burrowing 
in  wood.  Audubon  states  that  in  autumn  these  woodpeckers 
eat  poke-berries  and  wild  grasses.  Mr.  W.  E.  Cram  observed 
one  of  these  birds  opening  the  seed  cases  of  mullein  in  Au- 
gust. "  I  found  that  seed  vessels  that  contained  grubs  were 
brown,  while  those  on  the  same  stalk  free  from  them  were 
still  green,  and  observed  that  the  woodpecker  only  opened 
the  brown  ones."  Dr.  D.  S.  Kellicott  has  reported  that  the 
downy  woodpecker  has  been  "most  industrious  in  Columbus, 
Ohio,  in  boring  for  the  larvae  of  the  maple  aegerian,"  a  pest 
of  shade-trees.  Mr.  A.  W.  Butler  has  "  often  found  them 
feeding  upon  sunflower  seeds,  of  which  they  are  very  fond." 

The  young  birds  are  fed  with  insects,  ants  forming  a  large 
percentage  of  their  diet. 

The  only  injury  that  can  be  charged  to  the  account  of  this 
bird  is  that  of  spreading  the  seeds  of  poison-ivy,  the  berries 
of  which  it  eats.  The  seeds  pass  through  the  body  unharmed 
as  to  their  germinating  qualities.  Probably  this  is  a  chief  reason 
why  these  plants  are  so  generally  found  growing  around  the 
bases  of  trees. 

The  FLICKER,  although  one  of  the  woodpeckers,  has  habits 
quite  different  from  the  majority  of  its  tribe.  Instead  of 
drilling  holes  in  trees  for  a  living,  it  gets  most  of  its  food  from 
the  ground.  Its  structure,  especially  that  of  its  bill,  is  modified 


186  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

to  suit  its  peculiar  habits.  The  ordinary  woodpecker's  bill  is 
shaped  like  a  chisel  at  the  tip,  but  that  of  a  flicker  is  like  a 
pickaxe.  It  has  the  same  long,  extensile  tongue  which  charac- 
terizes most  of  the  woodpeckers.  This  is  used  for  catching 
small  insects,  by  being  thrust  out  covered  with  sticky  saliva 
and  entangling  them.  Larger  insects  are  grasped  by  the  bill. 
Flickers  relish  fruit  as  much  as  robins  do.  The  two  species 
are  usually  associated  when  the  berries  of  the  sour-gum  and 
black-cherry  trees  are  ripe.  In  winter  flickers  eat  the  berries 
of  Ampelopsis.  Nearly  half  the  flickers'  diet  consists  of  ants. 


HEAD  OF  FLICKEK. 


In  two  hundred  and  thirty  stomachs  examined  at  Wash- 
ington fifty-six  per  cent,  was  animal  matter,  thirty-nine  per 
cent,  vegetable,  and  five  per  cent,  mineral.  Two  of  them 
contained  over  three  thousand  ants  each.  Other  insects  were 
beetles  (Coleoptera),  bugs  {Hemiptera),  grasshoppers  and 
crickets  (Orthoptera),  caterpillars  (Lepidoptera),  May-flies 
(Ephemerida),  and  white  ants  (Tsoptera).  In  1 860  a  writer  in 
the  Southern  Planter  stated  that  flickers  were  the  only  birds 
he  had  ever  seen  pulling  out  worms  from  the  roots  of  peach- 
trees, — referring  evidently  to  the  destructive  peach-tree  borer. 

The  RED-HEADED  WOODPECKER  is  another  species  that,  like 


THE  WOODPECKERS,   KINGFISHERS,  AND   CUCKOOS.      187 

the  flicker,  has  got  above  hard  work.  Instead  of  delving  in 
wood,  he  sits  on  a  post  or  a  telegraph-pole  or  similar  point 
of  vantage,  taking  beetles,  grasshoppers,  and  other  insects 
which  come  along  or  are  seen  on  the  ground.  At  times  he 
darts  out  for  flying  insects  and  captures  them  on  the  wing. 
He  is  fond  of  corn  and  nuts.  In  autumn  these  birds  store 
nuts  in  all  sorts  of  crevices  for  future  use.  It  has  been 


THE  RED-HEADED  WOODPECKER. 
(  Aflcr  Bioloyirnl  Xim-ey.  ) 


observed  that  in  years  when  there  are  many  beechnuts,  red- 
headed woodpeckers  spend  the  winter  in  the  Northern  States, 
except  New  England  where  they  are  rare. 

About  half  the  food  taken  by  this  species  is  animal  and 
half  vegetable.  Beetles  are  eaten  oftener  than  any  other  order 
of  insects,  forming  about  a  third  of  the  total  food.  Among 
these  beetles  are  many  carabid  and  tiger  beetles,  which,  being 
carnivorous,  are  more  or  less  useful.  There  are  other  com- 


188  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

plaints  against  this  woodpecker  besides  that  of  killing  useful 
beetles.  It  sometimes  devours  cultivated  fruits, — blackberries, 
strawberries,  cherries,  apples,  pears,  etc., — thereby  raising 
the  farmer's  ire,  and  at  times  robs  birds'  nests  of  their  young. 
On  the  other  hand,  many  of  the  beetles  and  other  insects  are 
harmful  and  most  of  its  vegetable  food  is  valueless.  Even 
though  it  were  proved  that  its  food  habits  were  against  it,  a 


SPINES  ON  ROOF  OF  TONGUE. 
Magnified.     ( After  Lucas. ) 


TONGUE  OF  RED-HEADED  WOODPECKER. 
Magnified.     ( After  Lucas. ) 


bird  of  its  rare  beauty  is  worth  seeing  now  and  then,  though 
we  may  have  to  pay  for  the  pleasure. 

One  of  the  most  notable  illustrations  of  the  value  of  wood- 
peckers has  been  brought  to  light  through  the  investigations 
of  spruce  insects  in  the  Northeast  by  Dr.  A.  D.  Hopkins, 
forest  entomologist  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. Dr.  Hopkins  found  that  great  damage  was  being 


THE  WOODPECKERS,  KINGFISHERS,  AND  CUCKOOS.      189 

done  by  the  spruce-destroying  bark-beetle  (Dendroctonus 
piceaperda),  but  that  its  work  was  being  largely  checked  by 
woodpeckers,  probably  chiefly  the  ARCTIC  THREE-TOED  WOOD- 
PECKER and  the  BANDED  THREE-TOED  WOODPECKER,  as  these 
species  come  from  the  far  North  in  winter  and  live  in 
northern  New  England  in  numbers.  Dr.  Hopkins  writes: 
"Woodpeckers  are  the  most  important  enemies  of  the  bark- 
beetle,  and  appear  to  be  of  inestimable  value  to  the  spruce- 
timber  interests  of  the  Northeast.  Indeed,  I  feel  confident  that 
in  the  many  hundreds  of  infested  trees  examined,  at  least 
one-half  of  the  beetles  and  their  young  had  been  destroyed 
by  the  birds,  and  in  many  cases  it  was  evident  that  even  a 
greater  proportion  had  perished  from  this  cause  alone. 

"  Estimating  one  hundred  beetles  to  the  square  foot  of 
bark  in  the  average  infested  tree  and  an  average  of  sixty 
square  feet  of  infested  bark,  it  is  possible  for  each  tree  to 
yield  an  average  of  six  thousand' individuals,  one  hundred 
trees  six  hundred  thousand,  and  so  on.  It  is  therefore  plain 
that  if  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  this  number  are  destroyed 
by  the  birds  and  other  enemies,  the  amount  of  timber  the 
remainder  can  kill  will  be  lessened.  This  is  all  the  more 
apparent  when  it  is  remembered  that  it  is  only  when  the 
beetles  occur  in  great  numbers  that  they  can  overcome  the 
resistance  of  the  living  trees." 

In  California,  however,  Dr.  Hopkins  has  found  the  wood- 
peckers to  be  in  some  respects  of  doubtful  utility  in  their 
relations  to  forest  insects.  There  certain  clerid  beetles  and 
other  enemies  of  bark-borers  are  abundant,  and  are  especially 
exposed  to  the  attacks  of  woodpeckers.  The  result  is  that 
they  are  eaten  to  a  large  extent  and  so  are  prevented  from 
killing  the  bark-beetles. 

The  YELLOW-BELLIED  WOODPECKER,  or  true  SAPSUCKER,  either 
in  the  typical  or  a  varietal  form,  occurs  throughout  the  United 
States.  Although  seldom  an  abundant  species,  it  is  rather 
common  within  its  range.  The  structure  of  its  tongue  differs 


190  BIRDS   IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

from  that  of  its  congeners :  it  is  only  slightly  extensile  and  is 
not  adapted  for  penetrating  the  channels  of  and  dragging 
forth  wood-boring  larvae.  Consequently  these  pests  are 
seldom  found  in  its  food.  Its  usual  diet  appears  to  consist 
of  insects  and  berries  of  various  sorts,  together  with  the  sap 
and  more  or  less  of  the  inner  bark  (cambium)  of  trees. 
Like  the  flicker  it  takes  great  numbers  of  ants,  the  other 
insects  eaten  including  beetles,  crane-flies,  grasshoppers, 
caterpillars,  and  bugs.  Fifteen  out  of  thirty  Wis- 
consin specimens  had  eaten  nothing  but  ants.  Of 
berries,  Avild  grapes  and  dogwood-berries  are  de- 
voured. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  yellow-bellied 
woodpecker  habitually  feeds  upon  the  sap  of  trees  : 
the  testimony  of  naturalists  arid  fruit-growers  in 
many  widely  separated  localities  is  conclusive  on 
this  point.  To  obtain  the  sap  the  birds  make 
horizontal  series  of  punctures  in  the  bark  of  many 
trees ;  these  holes  extend  through  the  bark  and 
slightly  into  the  wood.  They  are  deeper  than  those 
made  by  the  downy  woodpecker  and  run  horizon- 
tally around  the  tree,  a  half-inch  or  more  apart. 
Two  or  more  series,  one  above  the  other,  are  usu- 
ally made  in  the  trunk  of  the  chosen  tree.  The  sap 
oozes  into  these  holes  and  the  birds  revisit  them 
constantly  to  suck  it  up,  just  as  the  owner  of  a 
sugar-orchard  visits  his  pails  to  gather  the  sap  from  the  maple- 
trees.  During  recent  summers  we  have  repeatedly  seen  these 
birds  thus  visiting  the  hundreds  of  punctures  they  had  made 
in  a  row  of  English  white  birches  along  the  border  of  Dart- 
mouth College  park.  The  woodpeckers  were  by  no  means 
the  only  visitors  attracted  by  the  flowing  sap  :  humming-birds, 
hornets,  wasps,  flies,  and  ants  were  there  in  abundance.  The 
two  first  named  were  not  on  good  terms,  for  whenever  a  ruby- 
throat  would  appear,  one  or  more  of  the  great  white-faced 


THE  WOODPECKERS,   KINGFISHERS,  AND   CUCKOOS.      191 

hornets  would  attempt,  often  successfully,  to  chase  it  away. 
But  they  did  not  interfere  with  the  proprietors  of  the  saccha- 
rine establishment. 

These  sapsuckers  seem  to  have  surprisingly  little  choice  in 
the  trees  selected  to  supply  their  food  ;  besides  the  English 
white  birch,  they  puncture  the  common  birch,  sugar-maple, 
pignut-hickory,  pine,  apple,  white  beech,  and  probably  many 
other  trees.  Mr.  A.  W.  Butler,  the  well-known  Indiana  or- 
nithologist, writes  concerning  this  species  :  "  They  do  great 
damage  in  spring  to  fruit-  and  shade-trees,  especially  the  sugar- 
maple.  They  perforate  the  bark  with  holes  arranged  in  bands 
on  spirals  about  the  trunk  of  the  tree  or  larger  limbs,  from 
which  the  sap  sometimes  flows  in  streams.  I  have  counted 
six  of  these  birds  on  a  dozen  sugar-maples  in  front  of  one  lot 
in  my  own  town.  In  winter  they  are  especially  severe  on 
coniferous  trees.  Norway  pines  in  my  yard  have  been  girdled 
until  they  became  puny,  sickly  trees  and  were  cut  down.11 
Mr.  Butler  further  reports  that  a  friend,  spending  a  day -in 
the  woods,  "  was  attracted  by  the  actions  of  a  yellow-bellied 
woodpecker  which  had  tapped  a  young  tree  near  its  top.  It 
would  sip  the  sap  and  then  wait  for  it  to  collect  and  feed 
again.  This  was  continued  for  several  hours.  The  observer 
watched  until  five  in  the  afternoon  and  left  the  woodpecker 
just  where  he  first  saw  it.  It  had  not  moved  more  than  a 
yard  from  the  hole  in  the  entire  seven  hours.11  The  young 
of  this  species  seem  to  be  fed  with  both  sap  and  insects. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  this  species  is  undeserving  of  en- 
couragement, and  when  it  appears  to  be  injuring  valuable 
trees  it  should  be  shot.  The  fruit-grower,  however,  should  be 
sure  that  the  birds  in  his  orchard  are  not  of  the  other  species, 
which  are  highly  beneficial  and  deserving  of  protection. 

THE    KINGFISHER. 

The  northern  United  States  have  but  one  representative 
of  the  interesting  family  of  kingfishers  (Afcedinidce).  This  is 


192  BIRDS    IN    THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

the  well-known  and  widely  distributed  BELTED  KINGFISHER. 
"Amidst  the  roar  of  the  cataract  or  over  the  foam  of  a 
torrent,  he  sits  perched  upon  an  overhanging  bough,  glancing 
his  piercing  eye  in  every  direction  below  for  his  scaly  prey, 
which  with  a  sudden  circular  plunge  he  sweeps  from  its 
native  element  and  swallows  in  an  instant.  His  voice,  not 
unlike  the  twirling  of  a  watchman's  rattle,  is  naturally  loud, 
harsh,  and  sudden,  but  is  softened  by  the  sound  of  the  brawl- 
ing streams  among  which  he  generally  rambles.  He  courses 
along  the  windings  of  the  brook  or  river  at  a  small  height 
above  the  surface,  sometimes  suspending  himself  by  the 
rapid  action  of  his  wings,  like  certain  species  of  hawks,  ready 
to  pounce  on  the  prey  below ;  now  and  then  settling  on  an 
old  dead  limb  to  reconnoitre.  Mill-ponds  are  particularly 
visited  by  this  feathered  fisher ;  and  the  sound  of  his  pipe  is 
as  well  known  to  the  miller  as  the  rattling  of  his  own 
hopper."  So  wrote  Alexander  Wilson  many  years  ago  ;  the 
same  picture  might  be  drawn  to-day. 

The  kingfisher  goes  south  late  in  autumn,  winters  in 
Florida  and  other  Southern  States,  and  returns  north  early 
in  spring.  Many  reside  at  the  South  throughout  the  year. 
The  nest  is  made  in  a  horizontal  burrow,  five  or  six  feet  long, 
excavated  by  the  birds  in  river  or  other  banks.  The  food 
consists  principally  of  fish,  but  occasionally  mice,  frogs,  or 
grasshoppers  are  captured.  The  young  are  fed  chiefly  upon 
fish,  but  are  also  given  various  sorts  of  aquatic  insects.  The 
kingfisher  is  a  handsome  bird,  whose  presence  adds  much  to 
the  enjoyment  of  excursions — by  boat  or  on  shore — along 
the  margins  of  streams  and  lakes,  although  in  trout-streams 
it  is  sometimes  troublesome  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
fisherman. 

THE    CUCKOOS. 

With  a  large  proportion  of  the  general  public  the  word 
"  cuckoo11  brings  to  mind  a  bird  which  has  the  habit  of  placing 
its  eggs  in  the  nests  of  other  birds,  the  resulting  young  ousting 


THE  WOODPECKERS,  KINGFISHERS,  AND    CUCKOOS.      193 

the  rightful  occupants  from  the  nest.  This  picture  is  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  European  cuckoo  upon  our  literature,  and 
it  by  no  means  portrays  the  domestic  habits  of  the  American 
species,  of  which  we  have  two,  the  YELLOW-BILLED  and  the 
BLACK-BILLED,  the  latter  having  the  more  northerly  range. 

Both  of  these  cuckoos  are  shy  and  secluded  in  habits,  oc- 
curring mostly  in  woods  and  underbrush  along  streams,  but 
often  visiting  orchards  arid  groves.  They  now  appear  to  be 
more  worthy,  since  their  food  habits  have  been  investigated, 
than  they  were  formerly  held.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
the  common  birds 
of  the  orchard,  par- 
ticularly the  robin, 
expostulate  loudly, 
and  frequent]  y 
show  fight,  when  a 
cuckoo  comes  on 
the  scene.  From 
this  it  might  be 
inferred  that  the 
cuckoo  is  an  enemy. 
Some  of  the  older 
writers  on  ornithol- 
ogy ascribe  to  it  the 
habit  of  invading 
birds'  nests.  If  such  a  habit  exists,  it  is  an  exception,  and  not 
a  rule.  Both  species  feed  upon  practically  the  same  matter. 

Fruit  is  seldom  eaten.  Of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five 
stomachs  of  cuckoos  taken  between  May  and  October,  inclu- 
sive, by  the  Biological  Survey,  only  one  contained  berries. 
Nearly  half  of  the  food  consisted  of  different  kinds  of  cater- 
pillars, mainly  hairy  ones. 

During  May  and  June,  when  tent  caterpillars  (Clisiocampa 
americana)  are  stripping  orchards  of  everything  green  and 
leaving  on  the  bare  branches  their  unsightly  nests,  they  form 

13 


YELLOW-BILLED  CUCKOO. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


194  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

nearly  half  of  the  cuckoos'  fare.  These  birds  are  unique  in 
having  a  taste  for  insects  that  other  birds  reject.  Most  birds 
are  ready  to  devour  a  smooth  caterpillar  that  comes  in  their 
way,  but  they  leave  the  hairy  varieties  severely  alone.  The 
cuckoos,  however,  make  a  specialty  of  devouring  such  unpal- 
atable creatures :  even  stink-bugs  and  the  poisonous  spiny 
larvae  of  the  lo  moth  are  freely  taken.  About  six  per  cent, 
of  the  food  for  the  year  consists  of  beetles,  among  which  are 
a  few  potato-beetles.  No  preference  for  any  particular  sort  of 
beetle  is  apparent :  probably  any  beetles  found  crawling  over 
branches  of  trees  would  be  eaten.  Investigation  has  shown 
scarcely  more  bugs  (Hemiptera)  than  beetles,  probably  for  the 
same  reason, — both  live  principally  on  the  ground, — those 
that  were  found  being  largely  cicadas,  which  dwell  almost 
wholly  in  trees.  Grasshoppers,  katydids,  and  tree-crickets  are 
eaten  to  a  considerable  extent,  orthopterous  insects  amount- 
ing to  about  thirty  per  cent,  of  the  year's  food.  Flies,  ants,  and 
other  hymenopterous  insects  are  taken  in  small  quantities. 

The  nestling  birds  are  fed  chiefly  with  smooth  caterpillars 
and  grasshoppers,  their  stomachs  probably  being  unable  to 
endure  the  hairy  caterpillars. 

All  in  all,  the  cuckoos  are  of  the  highest  economic  value. 
They  do  no  harm  and  accomplish  great  good.  If  the  orchardist 
could  colonize  his  orchards  with  them,  he  would  escape  much 
loss. 

That  curious  member  of  the  cuckoo  family  known  in  the 
Southwest  as  the  CHAPARRAL  COCK,  or  ROADRUNNER,  is  especially 
noted  for  its  speed  on  foot  and  its  droll  manner  of  darting 
about  in  pursuit  of  its  food.  Its  economic  interest  lies 
wholly  in  what  it  eats.  Insects,  snails,  lizards,  small  birds, 
and  snakes  are  food  for  it.  It  is  even  credited  as  an  enemy 
of  the  rattlesnake.  It  is  occasionally  tamed  and  allowed  to 
go  at  will  about  the  premises  to  wage  war  on  mice  and  other 
household  pests,  though  it  generally  becomes  so  mischievous 
that  it  proves  a  nuisance  rather  than  a  benefit. 


^holographed  from  life  by  Dr.  K.  W.  Shvfeldt. 

YOUNG    BARRED   OWLS. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 
THE  OWLS. 

FEW  birds  make  a  stronger  appeal  to  the  imagination  than 
do  the  owls.  Their  nocturnal  habits,  their  grotesque  appear- 
ance, their  weird  and  unearthly  voices,  and  their  secluded 
haunts  all  combine  to  render  them  birds  of  note  to  the  human 
mind.  Our  literature  is  full  of  allusions  to  the  owl,  such 
allusions,  especially  in  the  older  writings,  being  chiefly  due  to 
the  barn-owl,  which  in  Europe  commonly  inhabits  the  belfries 
and  towers  of  churches  and  castles. 

With  few  exceptions  the  owls  are  nocturnal  birds,  though 
many  of  them  can  see  very  well  by  daylight.  Their  eyes  are 
large  and  of  peculiar  structure,  the  ears  are  remarkably  de- 
veloped, arid  the  plumage  is  so  soft  and  fluffy  that  the  birds 
seem  much  larger  than  they  really  are.  Many  of  the  species 
have  a  wide  distribution,  being  found  almost  the  world  over 
under  the  guise  of  slightly  varying  geographical  races.  The 
nest  is  generally  placed  in  a  hole  in  a  tree,  the  cupola  of  a 
building,  or  some  other  sheltered  situation.  The  eggs  are 
whitish  and  vary  from  two  to  eight  or  more,  according  to 
the  species. 

The  owls  Jive  wholly  upon  animal  food,  which,  as  a  rule,  is 
captured  alive.  Small  animals,  especially  mice  and  gophers, 
birds,  frogs,  reptiles,  and  the  larger  insects  form  their  staple 
diet,  though  fish  are  sometimes  caught  in  the  water  and  eaten. 
The  indigestible  portions  of  the  food  are  regurgitated  in  the 
form  of  small  pellets,  in  which  the  hair  and  bones  of  the 
victims  are  all  present.  On  this  account  it  is  an  easy  matter 
to  determine  precisely  the  food  of  a  given  species  of  owl  by 
examining  the  pellets  in  the  nest  or  beneath  the  roosting-site. 
Large  numbers  of  such  pellets  have  been  examined  by  com- 

195 


196  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

petent  naturalists,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  and  the  re- 
sults prove  beyond  question  that  the  owls  as  a  group  are  of 
great  value  as  vermin  destroyers.  The  most  complete  ac- 
count of  the  economic  status  of  these  birds  as  yet  published 
is  the  report  of  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher,  of  the  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  much  of 
the  information  in  this  chapter. 

There  is  but  one  North  American  representative  of  the 
family  Strigidce,  the  common  BARN-OWL  of  the  Southern  and 
Western  States.  This  handsome  bird  is  occasionally  found 
as  far  north  as  New  England  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  while  in 
the  Pacific  region  it  extends  northward  to  Oregon.  In  most 
parts  of  the  United  States  it  is  not  an  abundant  species,  but 
in  California  it  is  said  to  be  the  commonest  of  the  owls.  It 
nests  in  towers  or  hollow  trees,  depositing  from  three  to  six 
yellowish-white  eggs  on  the  mass  of  regurgitated  pellets  which 
have  accumulated  in  its  abode. 

The  barn-owl  is  a  crepuscular  or  nocturnal  bird,  hiding 
during  the  day  and  sallying  forth  in  search  of  prey  during  the 
evening.  The  record  of  its  food  is  unusually  complete,  and 
shows  that  on  the  whole  it  is  a  very  useful  species.  Of  thirty- 
nine  stomachs  examined  by  Dr.  Fisher,  one  contained  a  pigeon ; 
three,  other  birds ;  seventeen,  mice ;  seventeen,  other  mam- 
mals ;  four,  insects  ;  and  seven  were  empty.  These  stomachs 
were  collected  from  Delaware  to  California,  and  contained 
specimens  of  the  following  small  mammals :  meadow-mice, 
jumping  mice,  harvest  and  house  mice,  white-footed  mice, 
shrews,  cotton-rats,  pocket-rats,  kangaroo-rats,  wood-rats,  and 
pouched  gophers.  Two  hundred  pellets  from  beneath  a  nest 
of  these  birds  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  contained  four  hundred 
and  fifty-four  skulls,  of  which  "two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
were  meadow-mice ;  two,  pine-mice ;  one  hundred  and 
seventy-nine,  house-mice ;  twenty,  rats ;  six,  jumping  mice ; 
twenty,  shrews ;  one,  a  star-nosed  mole ;  and  one,  a  vesper- 
sparrow." 


THE   OWLS.  197 

Mr.  J.  H.  Reed,  who  has  made  a  special  study  of  the  barn- 
owls  in  Pennsylvania,  says  that  their  food  consists  chiefly  of 
meadow-mice. 

A  German  ornithologist  thirty  years  ago  examined  seven 
hundred  and  three  pellets  regurgitated  by  barn-owls.  Of  the 
two  thousand  five  hundred  and  fifty-one  skulls  found,  one 
thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy-nine  belonged  to  shrews, 
nine  hundred  and  thirty  to  mice,  sixteen  to  bats,  one  to  a 
mole,  nineteen  to  English  sparrows,  and  three  to  other 
birds. 

In  the  Southern  States  the  barn-owl  feeds  very  largely  upon 
the  destructive  cotton-rat,  and  in  California  the  main  staple 
of  its  diet  is  the  pouched  gopher,  an  abundant  and  vexatious 
rodent,  and  the  ground-squirrel,  a  related  pest.  All  accounts 
agree  in  showing  that  it  is  a  rare  and  exceptional  trait  for  the 
barn-owl  to  feed  on  small  birds. 

The  SHORT-EARED  OWL  is  said  to  have  the  greatest  geo- 
graphical range  of  any  land  bird.  It  is  found  in  all  the 
principal  divisions  of  the  globe  except  Australia,  and  is  com- 
mon throughout  most  of  North  America,  going  northward  to 
breed  in  summer  and  returning  southward  for  the  winter. 
It  prefers  open  to  wooded  country,  and  in  many  regions  is 
the  most  abundant  of  the  owls.  Its  food  consists  principally 
of  field-mice,  but  moles,  shrews,  gophers,  small  rabbits, 
crickets,  grasshoppers,  beetles,  and  rarely  small  birds  are  also 
eaten.  Fully  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  stomachs  of  about  fifty 
specimens  examined  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture  con- 
tained nothing  but  meadow-mice.  In  England  this  species  is 
noted  as  being  one  of  the  chief  agencies  in  subduing  the  up- 
risings of  field-mice  that  periodically  occur. 

The  BARRED  OWL  is  a  larger  bird  than  either  of  the  pre- 
ceding species.  The  typical  form  is  found  in  eastern  North 
America,  while  closely  related  representatives  inhabit  the 
West  and  Southwest.  It  is  generally  accused  of  being  a 
serious  enemy  to  poultry,  and  in  southern  regions  where 


198  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

fowls  roost  in  trees  it  probably  does  considerable  damage ; 
but  of  the  one  hundred  and  nine  stomachs  examined  by  Dr. 
Fisher  only  three  contained  domestic  fowls,  while  in  one  was 
a  pigeon,  in  another  a  ruffed  grouse,  and  thirteen  contained 
smaller  birds,  including  screech-owls,  sparrows,  and  a  red- 
bellied  woodpecker.  Mice  were  found  in  forty-six  stomachs  ; 
rats,  red  squirrels,  and  chipmunks  in  eighteen ;  insects  and 
spiders  in  sixteen  ;  crawfish  in  nine ;  frogs  in  four ;  fish  in 
two ;  a  lizard  in  one ;  while  twenty  of  the  stomachs  were 
empty.  Audubon  records  the  fact  that  these  owls  are  very 
fond  of  a  brown  wood-frog  found  in  Louisiana.  "  Dr.  C.  Hart 
Merriam  took  the  remains  of  at  least  a  dozen  red-backed 
mice  from  a  single  specimen  killed  near  Moose  River  in 
northern  New  York." 

44  In  summing  up  the  facts  relating  to  the  food  habits  of  this 
owl,"  writes  Dr.  Fisher,  "it  appears  that,  while  the  general 
statements  of  certain  authors,  especially  the  earlier  ones, 
charge  the  bird  with  the  destruction  of  poultry,  game,  and 
small  birds,  such  destructive  habits  are  comparatively  un- 
common. That  it  does  occasionally  make  inroads  upon  the 
poultry-yard  and  does  more  or  less  damage  among  game- 
birds  is  true ;  but  the  systematic  collection  and  examination 
of  a  large  number  of  stomachs  show  the  exceptional  char- 
acter of  such  acts  and  reveal  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  its 
food  consists  of  mammals.  And  it  is  to  be  noted  that  among 
the  list  are  some  of  the  most  destructive  rodents  that  the 
farmer  has  to  contend  with.  If  a  fair  balance  be  struck, 
therefore,  it  must  be  considered  that  on  the  whole  this  owl  is 
beneficial,  and  hence  should  occupy  a  place  on  the  list  of 
birds  to  be  protected." 

The  barred  owl  makes  its  nest  in  hollow  trees  or  among 
the  upper  branches.  It  often  uses  the  deserted  nest  of  a 
crow  or  hawk  for  the  purpose,  remodelling  it  slightly  to  suit 
the  new  occupant.  The  complement  of  whitish  eggs  is  usually 
two  or  three,  but  four  or  five  are  sometimes  found.  These 


THE   OWLS. 


199 


owls  prefer  heavy  woodlands  or  wooded  swamps — such  as 
the  cypress  swamps  of  our  South  Atlantic  regions — where 
they  may  be  found  much  oftener  than  in  more  open  regions. 
The  SCREECH-OWL  is  one  of  the  best-known  and  most 
abundant  of  the  group  :  it  inhabits  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  is  found  throughout  southern  Canada.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  beneficial  birds  of  prey  and  deserves  the  encour- 
agement and  protection  of  farmers  everywhere.  Its  food  is 
varied,  consisting  of 
insects,  crawfish, 
frogs,  fish,  lizards, 
small  birds,  and  es- 
pecially mice,  of 
which  it  destroys 
enormous  numbers. 
In  summer  insects 
form  a  large  part  of 
its  fare :  an  owl  in 
captivity  has  shown 
a  fondness  for  cater- 
pillars, and  the 
stomachs  of  twro 
examined  in  New 
Jersey  were  full  of 
full-grown  nymphs 
of  cicadas  or  harvest- 
flies.  In  warm  win- 
ter weather  it  stores 
up  in  its  hiding-place  mice,  moles,  and  similar  creatures  to 
serve  as  food  during  more  inclement  periods.  The  only  bad 
habit  attributed  to  it  is  that  of  occasionally  catching  small 
birds,  but  since  the  introduction  of  the  English  sparrow  this 
trait  is  favorable  to  the  owl's  usefulness,  since  it  is  known  to 
prey  to  a  considerable  extent  upon  these  unwelcome  immi- 
grants. In  the  nest  of  a  screech-owl  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  were 


SCREECH-OWLS. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


200 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


found  the  bodies   of  two   English   sparrows   and   one   field- 
mouse. 

The  LONG-EARED  OWL  is  a  common  and  widely  distributed 
species  in  North  America.  In  some  parts  of  the  Southwest 
it  is  considered  the  most  abundant  of  the  owls  ;  and  the  tes- 
timony of  all  competent  observers  points  to  the  fact  that  it  is 
one  of  the  most  beneficial  members  of  its  family.  That  its 
food  consists  very  largely  of  mice  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
out  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  skulls  taken  by  Dr. 

Fisher  from  beneath 
the  roosting-site  of  one 
of  these  owls,  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven 
were  of  mice  of  various 
species,  while  twenty- 
six  were  of  shrews, 
the  remaining  thirteen 
consisting  of  eleven 
sparrows,  one  warbler, 
and  one  bluebird.  The 
same  observer  found 
that  out  of  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  stom- 
achs from  many  parts 
.of  the  country  eighty- 
four  contained  mice ; 
five,  other  small  mam- 
mals ;  sixteen,  small 
birds,  one  being  a 
quail ;  while  one  contained  insects  and  fifteen  were  empty. 
Dr.  B.  H.  Warren  found  that  twenty-two  out  of  twenty-three 
Pennsylvania  long-eared  owls  had  eaten  only  mice,  while  the 
twenty-third  one  had  taken  beetles  and  a  small  bird.  The 
remains  of  eight  field-mice  were  taken  from  the  stomach. of 
one  specimen  by  Mr.  Townend  Glover;  while  in  Oregon 


AMERICAN  LONG-EARED  OWL. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


THE   OWLS.  201 

Captain  C.  E.  Bendire  found  the  food  to  consist  principally  of 
mice  and  the  smaller  rodents. 

The  long-eared  owl  commonly  breeds  in  trees,  using  the 
deserted  nest  of  a  hawk  or  crow  for  the  purpose.  From 
three  to  six  eggs  are  deposited.  It  is  a  nocturnal  bird,  hiding 
in  groves  of  evergreens  and  other  sheltered  retreats  during 
the  day. 

There  are  a  number  of  very  small  owls  in  the  United 
States.  In  the  South  and  Southwest  are  found  two  species 
of  pygmy  owls,  usually  less  than  seven  inches  long;  while 
in  Arizona  occurs  the  little  ELF  OWL,  the  smallest  species  of 
its  family  in  North  America.  These  owls  feed  upon  insects, 
the  smaller  mice,  and  occasionally  small  birds. 

In  the  Eastern  and  Northern  States  the  smallest  owl  is  the 
ACADIAN  or  SAW-WHET  OWL,  a  bird  usually  about  eight  inches 
long,  which  is  occasionally  found  from  Canada  as  far  south  as 
North  Carolina.  Its  nest  is  built  in  hollow  trees,  generally  in 
holes  made  by  flickers,  during  early  spring.  Its  food  consists 
chiefly  of  mice  and  shrews,  with  the  addition  of  insects  in 
summer,  and  an  occasional  sparrow  or  other  small  bird.  The 
young  are  fed  chiefly  upon  mice  of  various  kinds  and  small 
birds. 

The  GREAT  HORNED  OWL  is  found  over  almost  the  whole 
of  North  America.  In  strength  and  ferocity  it  has  no  equal 
among  our  rapacious  birds.  Of  all  the  owls  which  we  have, 
it  is  the  only  one  distinctly  harmful.  During  the  day  it  keeps 
very  closely  hidden,  more  to  escape  persecution  from  crows 
and  other  birds  that  delight  to  torment  it  than  because  the 
light  of  day  is  painful  to  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  is 
scarcely  a  keener-visioned  creature  in  the  woods  than  this 
owl,  in  spite  of  the  general  impression  that  it  cannot  see  well 
when  the  sun  shines. 

Its  food  consists  mainly  of  mammals  and  birds,  though  it 
sometimes  catches  insects.  A  specimen  examined  by  us  had 
eaten  a  caterpillar  (Eacles  imperialis)  in  addition  to  a  chicken. 


202  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

Nocturnal  mammals  are  frequent  victims.  Four  out  of  every 
five  of  these  owls  that  are  brought  in  have  been  scented  by  a 
skunk.  Two  nests  that  have  come  under  the  writers'  obser- 
vation both  had  the  remains  of  skunks  upon  them  beside  the 
young.  Rabbits  are  caught  in  large  numbers.  Musk-rats, 
rats,  mice,  and  shrews  are  on  the  regular  bill  of  fare.  Many 
birds  are  snatched  from  their  roosts  and  borne  away  by  this 


HEAD  OF  GREAT  HORNED  OWL. 


literally  u  silent  messenger."  The  ruffed  grouse  is  often  taken. 
Farmers  who  carelessly  allow  their  turkeys,  chickens,  or 
guinea-fowls  to  roost  on  fences  and  trees  are  frequently  made 
to  repent.  The  writers  have  known  an  owl  to  dispose  of  two 
guinea-hens  in  one  night,  leaving  only  a  few  bones  and  a. lot 
of  feathers  on  the  snow  to  tell  the  tale.  In  his  account  of 


THE   OWLS.  203 

this  owl,  Dr.  C.  Hart  Merriam  1  states  that  he  has  known  one 
to  decapitate  three  turkeys  and  several  hens  in  a  single  night, 
leaving  the  bodies  fit  for  the  table. 

It  occasionally  catches  fish.  Of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  stomachs  of  the  great  horned  owl  that  were  examined 
at  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  thirty-one  contained 
poultry  or  game-birds ;  eight,  other  birds ;  thirteen,  mice ; 
sixty-five,  other  mammals ;  one,  a  scorpion ;  one,  fish ;  ten, 
insects  ;  and  seventeen  were  empty. 

In  the  arctic  regions  of  North  America  the  beautiful  SNOWY 
OWL  is  a  rather  common  species.  It  is  one  of  the  largest 
members  of  its  family,  often  being  more  than  two  feet  long. 
In  winter  it  is  occasionally  found  in  the  Northern  States, 
especially  in  New  England,  but  during  summer  it  remains  in 
the  far  North. 

The  summer  food  of  this  bird  consists  very  largely  of  the 
small  rodents  known  as  lemmings,  which  abound  in  most 
arctic  regions.  These  and  related  rodents  seem  to  be  the  fa- 
vorite food  except  in  winter,  when  other  animals,  including 
the  ptarmigan  and  arctic  hare,  are  eaten.  During  its  winter 
visits  to  southern  Canada  and  the  Northern  United  States,  it 
lives  upon  rabbits,  rats,  mice,  and  various  birds.  It  is  expert 
in  catching  fish,  which  form  a  favorite  article  of  food. 

The  snowy  owl  is  so  rare  in  our  country  that  it  has  little 
economic  importance,  but  it  probably  deserves  to  be  left  un- 
molested when  it  visits  us. 

The  BURROWING  OWL  is  found  in  some  parts  of  Florida,  but 
is  best  known  on  the  Great  Plains,  where  it  is  abundant, 
living  in  prairie-dog  towns  and  the  burrows  of  ground- 
squirrels.  Its  food  is  varied,  but  consists  chiefly  of  rodents, 
young  rabbits  and  prairie-dogs,  chipmunks,  gophers,  mice, 
and  shrews.  It  also  feeds  on  grasshoppers,  crickets,  beetles, 
scorpions,  and  centipedes.  In  localities  where  prairie-dogs 

1  Birds  of  Connecticut,  1877,  p.  97. 


204 


BIRDS    IN    THEIR    RELATIONS    TO    MAN. 


are  plentiful,  the  young-  ones  form  a  large  share  of  the  food 
of  this  species. 

The .  old  story  of  how  these  owls  live  in  harmony  with 
prairie-dogs  and  rattlesnakes,  all  in  the  same  burrows,  is  a 


BURROWING  OWL. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


myth.  The  owl  and  the  snake  are  both  parasites,  the  dog, 
an  unwilling  host,  being  forced  to  yield  its  home  and  often  its 
life  to  its  unwelcome  guests. 


SPARROW-HAWKS. 

(After  Biological  Survey.) 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 
THE    HAWKS,   EAGLES,   KITES,   AND   VULTURES. 

THE    HAWKS. 

THE  SPARROW-HAWK  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  species 
of  its  family  in  many  parts  of  North  America.  It  is  a  small 
and  handsome  hawk,  and  breeds  throughout  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  in  Mexico  on  the  south  and  in  Canada  on 
the  north.  It  goes  south  in  autumn,  occasionally  passing  the 
winter  as  far  north  as  southern  New  York.  Its  nest  is  built 
in  holes  in  trees,  those  made  by  the  larger  woodpeckers  often 
being  appropriated  for  the  purpose,  and  five  eggs  are  usually 
deposited.  It  is  a  valuable  bird  and  deserves  protection  and 
encouragement.  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher,  who  made  a  special  study 
of  its  economic  relations,  writes  that  it  "is  almost  exclusively 
insectivorous,  except  when  insect  food  is  difficult  to  obtain. 
In  localities  where  grasshoppers  and  crickets  are  abundant, 
these  hawks  congregate,  often  in  moderate-sized  flocks,  and 
gorge  themselves  continuously.  Rarely  do  they  touch  any 
other  form  of  food  until,  either  by  the  advancing  season  or 
other  natural  causes,  the  grasshopper  crop  is  so  lessened  that 
their  hunger  cannot  be  appeased  without  undue  exertion ; 
then  other  kinds  of  insects  and  other  forms  of  life  contribute 
to  their  fare,  and  beetles,  spiders,  mice,  shrews,  small  snakes, 
lizards,  or  even  birds  may  be  required  to  bring  up  the  balance." 
In  the  sparse  pine  woods  of  the  sandy  barrens  of  southern 
Florida  we  have  found  the  sparrow-havvk  one  of  the  com- 
monest of  winter  birds,  and  much  more  abundant  than  any 
other  hawk.  One  of  its  favorite  methods  of  obtaining  food 
there  is  to  perch  in  trees  on  the  outskirts  of  the  forest  fires 
that  frequently  occur,  and  catch  the  grasshoppers,  lizards,  and 
other  animals  driven  from  cover  by  the  flames.  At  such 

205 


206  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

times  lizards  enter  largely  into  the  bird's  diet.  Professor 
King  reports  that  of  seven  sparrow-hawks  which  he  examined 
in  Wisconsin  "  two  had  eaten  two  mice ;  four,  twenty-five 
grasshoppers ;  three,  twenty-five  crickets ;  one,  six  beetles ; 
one,  five  moths;  and  one,  two  hairy  caterpillars.  One  was 
seen  to  take  a  young  robin  from  the  nest  and  one  to  capture 
another  bird  not  identified.1'  Ten  Nebraska  specimens  ex- 
amined by  Professor  Aughey  had  eaten  large  numbers  of 
insects,  comparatively  few  being  locusts ;  three  of  them  had 
also  eaten  mice,  three  others  gophers,  one  a  rabbit,  one  a 
quail,  one  an  unidentified  bird,  and  one  some  frogs.  All  the 
evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  sparrow-hawk  preys  only  to 
a  limited  extent  upon  our  native  insectivorous  birds. 

The  BROAD-WINGED  HAWK  is  comparatively  a  common  species 
throughout  eastern  North  America,  spending  the  winter  south 
of  the  fortieth  degree  of  latitude,  but  coming  north  for  the 
summer.  It  breeds  in  trees,  building  a  bulky  nest  similar  to 
that  of  other  common  hawks ;  and  feeds  on  mice,  frogs,  small 
snakes,  toads,  crayfish,  chipmunks  and  red  squirrels,  earth- 
worms, and  many  insects, — making  a  specialty  among  the 
latter  of  the  large  caterpillars  of  the  sphinx-  and  emperor- 
moths,  such  as  the  cecropia-caterpillar  so  often  destructive  to 
shade-trees.  This  is  one  of  the  few  birds  that  venture  to 
attack  these  formidable-looking  creatures.  This  hawk  very 
seldom  attacks  poultry  or  small  birds. 

Several  species  of  the  birds  of  prey  are  of  great  benefit  to 
man  as  insect  destroyers.  In  the  Western  States  none  of 
them  surpasses  in  this  respect  the  common  SWAINSON'S  HAWK, 
a  large  bird  which  during  the  late  summer  and  early  autumn 
months  feeds  to  so  great  an  extent  on  grasshoppers  and  their 
allies  that  it  might  well  be  called  a  grasshopper  hawk.  The 
evidence  on  this  point  is  abundant  and- conclusive,  as  is  also 
that  in  regard  to  the  work  this  bird  does  in  destroying  ground- 
squirrels  (Spermophiles)  and  related  pests.  Flocks  of  several 
hundreds  of  these  hawks  have  repeatedly  been  seen  foraging 


THE   HAWKS,   EAGLES,  KITES,  AND   VULTURES.        207 

for  grasshoppers,  and  from  examinations  of  many  stomachs 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  each  bird  during  the  grasshopper  season 
destroys  at  least  two  hundred  of  the  pests  each  day.  They 
very  rarely  attack  poultry  or  birds  of  any  kind,  and  unques- 
tionably deserve  the  protection  of  the  husbandman. 

Of  the  various  birds  to  which  the  name  hen-hawk  is  occa- 
sionally applied  it  is  least  deserved  by  the  ROUGH-LEGGED  HAWK. 
All  the  evidence  obtainable  goes  to  show  that  this  species  is 
not  in  any  sense  a  hen-hawk,  but  that  instead  it  is  a  mouse- 
hawk,  feeding  almost  exclusively  upon  meadow-mice.  Forty 
out  of  forty-nine  stomachs  examined  at  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  contained  mice,  while  five  of  them 
contained  such  small  mammals  as  shrews,  gophers,  rabbits, 
and  weasels,  one  contained  insects  and  a  lizard,  and  four 
were  empty.  No  poultry  or  birds  of  any  kind  were  found. 
Similar  testimony  from  many  other  sources  has  been  pub- 
lished ;  in  Massachusetts  hundreds  of  these  birds  were  killed 
along  the  Connecticut  River,  and  all  the  stomachs  examined 
contained  only  meadow-mice  ;  in  Oregon,  Utah,  and  Nebraska 
field-mice  are  reported  as  the  staple  diet,  while  cotton-tail 
rabbits,  gophers,  and  other  animals  are  also  included  in  the 
bill  of  fare. 

The  rough-legged  hawk  is  a  northern  bird  in  summer,  as 
a  rule  visiting  the  United  States  only  in  winter.  It  is  said 
generally  to  keep  south  of  the  snow  line  in  order  to  capture 
its  favorite  prey  more  easily.  It  hunts  in  the  twilight,  watching 
for  victims  from  some  low  perch  or  slowly  flying  over  meadows 
and  marshes  It  breeds  in  the  far  North. 

The  typical  form  of  the  RED-SHOULDERED  HAWK  is  common 
in  the  Eastern  States  and  closely  related  races  are  found  in 
the  South  and  West,  though  the  bird  is  absent  from  the 
Great  Plains  region.  .It  breeds  throughout  its  range,  the  nest 
being  built  in  early  spring  in  the  upper  branches  of  some  tall 
tree,  and  a  brood  of  from  three  to  five  young  being  reared. 
This  is  a  heavy,  slow-flying  hawk,  an  adept  at  catching  mice 


208  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

and  frogs,  but  paying  little  attention  to  poultry  or  small  birds. 
It  takes  a  great  variety  of  food :  two  hundred  and  twenty 
specimens,  taken  during  every  month  of  the  year  in  thirteen 
Avidely  separated  States,  Territories,  arid  Provinces,  were  ex- 
amined by  Dr.  Fisher.  Two  of  these  contained  chickens, 
with  a  fair  probability  that  they  had  not  been  killed  by  the 
hawk ;  one,  a  quail ;  twelve,  other  birds,  including  a  flicker, 
meadow-lark,  screech-owl,  Carolina  dove,  snow-bird,  sora  rail, 
robin,  crow,  and  various  sparrows ;  one  hundred  and  two, 
mice,  including  the  house,  pine,  field,  white-footed,  red-backed, 
and  meadow  varieties,  chiefly  the  latter;  forty  had  eaten  other 
mammals,  among  which  were  the  musk-rat,  chipmunk,  skunk, 
rabbit,  opossum,  and  various  shrews ;  twenty  contained  rep- 
tiles, including  ribbon,  water,  striped,  garter,  and  green  snakes, 
as  well  as  lizards ;  thirty-nine  had  eaten  batrachians,  princi- 
pally frogs,  though  toads,  tree-frogs,  and  salamanders  were  also 
present ;  ninety-two  contained  insects,  the  most  important  ele- 
ment being  grasshoppers  and  crickets,  although  large  caterpil- 
lars, beetles,  white  grubs,  katydids,  cicadas,  and  cockroaches 
were  also  present ;  sixteen  of  the  hawks  had  eaten  spiders ; 
seven,  crawfish;  one,  earthworms;  two,  offal;  three,  fish; 
while  fourteen  stomachs  contained  nothing.  Such  a  showing 
as  this  ought  to  convince  any  one  of  the  general  beneficence  of 
a  bird  whose  food  consists  of  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  mice  and 
not  more  than  one  per  cent,  of  poultry. 

The  typical  form  of  the  RED-TAILED  HAWK  is  found  in  eastern 
North  America,  ranging  west  as  far  as  the  Great  Plains,  while 
five  closely  allied  geographical  races  occupy  the  western 
portion  of  the  continent  from  Central  America  northward. 
It  is  one  of  our  larger  hawks,  usually  measuring  nearly  or 
quite  two  feet  in  length  and  having  a  wing  expanse  of  four  or 
five  feet.  It  is  a  migratory  species,  often  travelling  in  large 
flocks  and  spending  the  winter  in  the  Central  and  Southern 
States.  In  many  regions  it  is  common  and  is  often  persecuted 
as  a  hen-hawk. 


THE   HAWKS,   EAGLES,   KITES,   AND   VULTURES.         209 


Our  knowledge  of  the  feeding  habits  of  this  species  is 
unusually  complete.  Besides  the  isolated  observations  of  a 
large  number  of  competent  observers,  we  have  the  results  of 
the  special  studies  of  Dr.  B.  H.  Warren,  in  which  the  con- 
tents of  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  stomachs  were  ex- 
amined, and  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher,  who  studied  five  hundred  and 
sixty-two  stomachs  from  twenty-six  widely  separated  States, 
Territories,  and  Prov- 
inces, ranging  from 
Ontario  to  Florida  and 
Massachusetts  to  Califor- 
nia. Dr.  Warren  found 
mice  in  one  hundred  and 
thirty-one  of  the  one 
hundred  and  seventy- 
three  stomachs  he  ex- 
amined, while  six  of 
them  contained  rabbits ; 
three,  red  squirrels ; 
two,  skunks ;  and  eigh- 
teen, small  birds.  Poul- 
try was  found  in  four 
specimens,  insects  in 
three,  snakes  in  three, 
and  carrion  in  four. 
Thus,  less  than  ten  per 
cent,  of  the  birds  had 
eaten  poultry.  Dr. 

Fisher's  results  as  to  poultry  were  similar ;  fifty-four  out  of 
the  five  hundred  and  sixty-two  specimens  contained  poultry 
or  game-birds.  Various  other  birds,  as  the  robin,  mourning- 
dove,  crow,  shore-lark,  king-rail,  meadow-lark,  oriole,  blue- 
bird, grackle,  screech-owl,  and  several  species  of  sparrows, 
were  found  in  fifty-one  stomachs.  Mice — including  the  house, 
meadow,  pine,  white-footed,  harvest,  and  Cooper's  mice — had 

14 


BED-TAILED  HAWKS. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 


210  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

* 

been  eaten  by  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight  of  the  birds  ; 
while  other  small  mammals — as  the  gray,  red,  and  rock  squir- 
rels, the  gray,  striped,  and  pouched  gophers,  chipmunks  of 
various  species,  the  musk,  cotton,  kangaroo,  and  common  rats, 
three  kinds  of  rabbits,  as  well  as  shrews  and  skunks — were 
found  in  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  stomachs.  Frogs,  toads, 
lizards,  and  snakes  had  been"  eaten  by  thirty-seven  of  the 
hawks ;  insects,  chiefly  grasshoppers,  by  forty-seven  ;  craw- 
fish by  eight ;  centipedes  by  one  ;  and  offal  by  thirteen  ;  while 
eighty-nine  of  the  stomachs  were  empty. 

That  this  hawk  on  the  whole  does  considerably  more  good 
than  harm  there  is  no  doubt,  but  the  balance  in  its  favor  is 
not  so  great  that  it  is  worth  while  to  extend  to  it  too  much 
protection  in  thickly  settled  communities. 

There  are  three  species  of  hawks  whose  bill  of  fare  consists 
principally  of  birds  and  poultry.  They  are  the  sharp-shinned 
hawk,  Cooper's  hawk,  and  the  American  goshawk.  To  these 
three  birds  is  largely  due  the  obloquy  which  rests  upon  the 
family  as  a  whole.  They  are  all  trimly  built  birds,  strong  of 
wing  and  foot,  and  inveterate  enemies  of  other  birds.  Their 
only  redeeming  features  are  that  they  occasionally  capture  a 
rabbit,  a  mouse,  or  an  English  sparrow. 

The  SHARP-SHINNED  HAWK  is  the  smallest  of  the  three, 
measuring  from  ten  to  fourteen  inches  in  length.  It  is  com- 
mon and  widely  distributed,  breeding  throughout  the  United 
States  and  British  Provinces,  and  migrating  with  the  changing 
seasons.  It  passes  the  winter  as  far  north  as  the  fortieth 
parallel.  More  than  any  other  hawk  this  species  seems  to 
feed  on  birds.  Dr.  Fisher  examined  one  hundred  and  seven 
stomachs  which  contained  food ;  in  six  of  them  were  the 
remains  of  poultry  or  game-birds  and  in  ninety-nine  of  them 
were  the  remains  of  other  birds  ;  all  but  two  had  eaten  birds 
of  some  kind.  Mice  had  been  eaten  by  six  of  them  and 
insects  by  five.  The  variety  of  birds  taken  was  surprising; 
besides  the  young  or  half-grown  chickens  there  were  evidences 


THE    HAWKS,   EAGLES,   KITES,   AND    VULTURES.         211 


of  the  presence  of  the  quail,  robin,  oriole,  swift,  bluebird, 
downy  woodpecker,  flicker,  cow-bird,  mocking-bird,  cat-bird, 
oven-bird,  hermit-thrush,  mourning-dove,  chickadee,  snow- 
birds, and  various  wrens,  warblers,  buntings,  and  sparrows, 
including  the  English  variety  of  the  latter.  No  bird  with  such 
a  record  deserves  protection. 

COOPER'S  HAWK  may  be  considered  a  larger  type  of  the 
sharp-shinned  species.  It  measures  from  fourteen  to  twenty 
inches  in  length,  is  found 
throughout  North  Amer- 
ica as  far  north  as  the 
British  Provinces,  mi- 
grates south  to  spend  the 
winter,  and  is  an  invet- 
erate enemy  to  poultry, 
game  and  other  birds. 
Of  ninety-four  food- 
containing  stomachs  ex- 
amined by  Dr.  Fisher 
poultry  or  game-birds 
were  found  in  thirty-four 
and  other  birds  in  fifty- 
two  stomachs.  Small 
mammals,  including  two 
mice,  one  cotton-rat, 
three  chipmunks,  one 
red  squirrel,  one  gray 
squirrel,  one  ground- 
squirrel,  and  one  rabbit, 
had  been  eaten  by  eleven  of  the  hawks.  Two  others  had  taken 
insects,  one  a  frog,  and  three  had  eaten  lizards.  The  game- 
birds  destroyed  included  pigeons,  quail,  and  ruffed  grouse,  and 
on  the  list  of  other  birds  one  finds  the  chewink,  purple  grackle, 
meadow-lark,  flicker,  nuthatch,  hermit -thrush,  dove,  robin, 
snow-bird,  mourning-dove,  and  various  warblers  and  sparrows. 


COOPER'S  HAWK. 

(After  Biological  Survey.) 


212  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS    TO    MAN. 

This  species  is,  as  Dr.  Fisher  remarks,  "pre-eminently  a 
chicken-hawk.  Its  devastations  in  this  direction  are  much 
greater  than  those  of  all  the  other  hawks  and  owls  together, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  the  sharp-shinned  hawk,  which 
attacks  much  smaller  chickens."  This  bird  is  also  learning 
to  add  the  English  sparrow  to  its  bill  of  fare. 

The  GOSHAWK  is  not  a  common  species  in  the  United  States, 
although  in  winter  it  is  occasionally  found.  It  is  a  northern 
bird,  occurring  frequently  in  the  British  Provinces,  where  it 
breeds.  It  feeds  largely  on  good-sized  birds,  such  as  chickens, 
ruffed  grouse,  quail,  and  mourning-doves,  as  well  as  on  rab- 
bits, squirrels,  mice,  and  sometimes  the  larger  insects.  It  can 
scarcely  be  ranked  as  a  beneficial  bird  in  cultivated  regions. 

It  is  fortunate  that  the  DUCK-HAWK  is  a  rare  species,  because 
it  is  a  savage  bird,  extremely  destructive  to  other  birds  of 
many  kinds.  It  is  a  powerful  hawk,  of  good  size,  our  form 
being  simply  a  geographical  race  of  the  famous  peregrine 
falcon  of  Europe.  As  its  common  name  implies,  it  feeds 
largely  on  water-fowl,  and  is  seldom  found  far  away  from  the 
coast  or  the  neighborhood  of  large  bodies  of  water.  When  a 
pair  breed  in  the  vicinity  of  a  poultry  yard, — a  rare  event,— 
the  chickens  are  liable  to  suffer  severely. 

Among  its  other  feathered  victims  one  finds  the  meadow- 
lark,  robin,  cat-bird,  mourning-dove,  gray-cheeked  thrush,  and 
various  warblers  and  sparrows.  In  Florida  it  feeds  largely 
upon  the  coot,  enormous  numbers  of  which  still  inhabit  the 
inland  lakes.  At  times  it  is  very  destructive  to  terns  along 
the  Atlantic  coast. 

The  beautiful  OSPREY,  or  FISH-HAWK,  is  of  chief  interest  on 
account  of  its  relations  to  the  bald  eagle,  \vhich  so  persistently 
robs  the  osprey  of  its  prey  in  mid-air.  The  fish-hawk  is 
chiefly  a  bird  of  the  shore-line,  where  it  finds  its  food 
abundant. 

The  MARSH  HAWK,  sometimes  also  called  the  MARSH  HAR- 
RIER, inhabits  almost  the  whole  of  North  America,  breeding 


Photographed  from  life  by  Dr.  R.  W.  Shufeldi. 

HEAD   OF   OSPREY. 


THE   HAWKS,  EAGLES,  KITES,  AND   VULTURES.        213 

from  Cuba  to  Alaska.  It  is  most  abundant  in  the  prairie 
States.  The  nest  is  placed  upon  the  ground  in  marshy  situ- 
ations, where  grass  and  sedges  help  conceal  it.  From  four  to 
six  young  are  reared  in  each  brood.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
useful  of  the  hawks  and  deserves  man's  protection.  "Its 
food,"  writes  Dr.  Fisher,  "  consists  largely  of  small  rodents, 
such  as  meadow-mice,  half-grown  squirrels,  rabbits,  and 
ground-squirrels.  In  fact,  so  extensively  does  it  feed  upon 
the  last-named  animals,  that  the  writer  rarely  has  examined 
a  stomach  from  the  West  which  did  not  contain  their  remains. 
In  addition  to  the  above,  it  preys  upon  lizards,  frogs,  snakes, 
insects,  and  birds  ;  of  the  latter,  the  smaller  ground-dwelling 
species  are  usually  taken.  When  hard  pressed  it  is  said  to 
feed  on  offal  and  carrion ;  and  in  spring  and  fall  when  water- 
fowl are  abundant  it  occasionally  preys  upon  the  dead  and 
wounded  birds  left  by  gunners."  The  stomach  of  a  speci- 
men shot  at  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  in  1892,  when  grass- 
hoppers wrere  very  abundant,  which  we  examined,  was  full 
of  these  insects,  showing  that  the  bird  was  doing  what  it 
could  to  check  the  outbreak.  In  the  Southern  rice-fields 
these  birds  do  good  service  in  scaring  away  the  flocks  of  bob- 
olinks. The  marsh  hawk  is  the  farmer's  friend,  and  its  rare 
visits  to  the  poultry-yard  may  well  be  excused  on  account  of 
the  enormous  number  of  vermin  it  destroys. 

THE    EAGLES. 

BALD  EAGLES  are  .usually  seen  about  the  coast  and  larger 
inland  waters,  where  they  are  able  to  find  a  supply  of  such 
food  as  best  suits  their  taste. 

In  the  North  they  live  almost  exclusively  upon  fish,  show- 
ing little  or  no  regard  for  quality  or  condition,  generally  de- 
vouring any  sort  of  fish  that  may  come  in  their  way,  and  are 
seemingly  as  well  satisfied  with  a  half-decayed  subject  washed 
up  by  the  waves  as  with  one  freshly  killed.  In  the  Southern 
States,  where  water-fowl  congregate  in  vast  numbers  during 


214  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

the  winter  months,  their  food  relations  are  somewhat  modified, 
as  is  indicated  by  the  following  extract,  written  by  Dr.  William 
L.  Ralph  and  published  in  Bendire's  "  Life  Histories  of  North 
American  Birds."  Speaking  of  a  community  of  bald  eagles 
in  the  vicinity  of  Merritt  Island,  he  says  :  "  These  eagles  seem 
to  breed  earlier  than  those  in  other  parts  of  Florida,  due  no 
doubt  to  the  immense  number  of  water-fowl,  especially  coots 
(Fulica  americana?),  that  frequent  this  vicinity  during  the 
winter,  and  which  form  the  principal  part  of  their  food, 
though  they  will  sometimes  condescend  to  eat  fish,  like  their 
more  northern  brothers  and  sisters.  I  have  often  seen  them 
catch  wounded  birds,  and  I  visited  one  nest  that  contained  in 
addition  to  two  well-grown  young  birds  the  remains  of  thir- 
teen coots  and  one  catfish.1' 

The  GOLDEN  EAGLE  inhabits  mountainous  districts  through- 
out the  country,  though  it  is  more  common  West  than  in  the 
East,  where  it  is  rare,  owing  to  the  denser  population. 

It  preys  on  grouse,  ducks,  hares,  ground-squirrels,  and 
other  creatures  of  similar  size,  and  occasionally  troubles 
sheep-owners  by  carrying  off  young  lambs.  Sometimes  it 
eats  carrion,  but  probably  only  when  pressed  by  hunger. 

The  thrilling  stories  told  of  the  fierceness  of  this  eagle  are 
not  credited  by  those  who  have  invaded  its  nests ;  yet  its 
power  is  unquestioned.  An  instance  is  recorded  in  which 
one  throttled  and  killed  a  black-tailed  deer  that  had  been 
crippled  by  a  hunter. 

If  this  were  an  abundant  species,  it  would  plainly  be  a 
harmful  one ;  but,  owing  to  its  scarcity,  its  depredations  are 
generally  insignificant. 

THE    KITES. 

The  kites  are  a  branch  of  the  hawk  family  especially  noted 
for  the  ease  and  elegance  of  their  flight.  The  commonest 
and  most  widely  diffused  species  is  the  SWALLOW-TAILED  KITE, 
which  has  a  geographical  range  from  Pennsylvania  to  Minne- 
sota and  southward.  Six  stomachs  of  this  kite  opened  by 


THE    HAWKS,   EAGLES,   KITES,  AND   VULTURES.         215 

Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher  showed  sixty  locusts  and  five  other  insects  in 
one,  sixty-nine  locusts  and  three  other  insects  in  another,  and 
seventy-five  locusts  in  a  third.  Lizards  were  found  in  two 
and  a  tree-frog  in  one.  All  contained  insects — wasps,  beetles, 
and  grasshoppers  being  among  them.  Aughey  reports  of 
three  stomachs  that  two  of  them  contained  sixty  and  sixty- 
nine  locusts  respectively,  while  the  third  contained  seventy- 
five  other  insects. 

All  the  evidence  tends  to  prove  the  swallow-tailed  kite  to 
be  harmless  at  least  and  generally  beneficial.  Two  other 
species,  the  white-tailed  and  Mississippi  kites,  have  practically 
the  same  bill  of  fare,  which  besides  the  animals  above  noted 
is  sometimes  varied  with  snakes  and  mice. 

THE    BUZZARDS. 

No  birds  are  more  familiarly  known  throughout  the 
Southern  States  than  the  TURKEY-BUZZARD  and  the  BLACK 
VULTURE  or  CARRION  CROW.  These  birds  may  be  seen  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  sailing  through  the  air  in  majestic  circles  or 
lazily  resting  on  stumps  or  trees  after  a  feast  of  their  filthy 
food.  They  perform  an  important  service  as  scavengers, 
disposing  of  all  sorts  of  animal  matter  that  would  pollute  the 
air.  On  this  account,  they  are  seldom  molested  by  man  and 
in  some  States  are  protected  by  law.  They  devour  both 
fresh  and  putrid  meat,  and  in  many  localities  save  the  butchers 
the  trouble  of  disposing  of  the  refuse  of  the  abattoir.  They 
are  known  sometimes  to  capture  live  snakes  and  to  attack 
helpless  animals  of  many  kinds.  Along  the  sea-shore  they 
feed  upon  dead  fish  cast  up  by  the  waves,  and  Audubon  re- 
ports having  observed  them  in  the  Florida  Keys  sucking  the 
eggs  and  devouring  the  young  of  herons  and  cormorants.  As 
another  offset  to  the  good  these  birds  do,  mention  should  be 
made  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  E.  B.  Williamson  has  suggested 
that  they  are  "  doubtless  an  important  factor  in  the  spread  of 
some  diseases, — hog  cholera,  for  example.1' 


216 


BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


It  was  formerly  supposed  that  these  birds  discovered  their 
food  through  the  sense  of  smell,  but  a  number  of  experiments 
by  Audubon  seem  to  prove  conclusively  that  they  depend 
upon  sight  rather  than  smell.  In  one  of  these  experiments 
"a  dead  hare,  a  pheasant,  and  a  kestrel,  together  with  a 
wheelbarrow  full  of  offal  from  the  slaughter-pens,  were  de- 
posited on  the  ground  at  the  foot  of  my  garden.  A  frame 
was  raised  above  it  at  a  distance  of  twelve  inches  from  the 


TURKEY-BUZZARDS. 
(After  Brehm.) 


earth ;  this  was  covered  with  brushwood,  allowing  the  air  to 
pass  freely  beneath  it  so  as  to  convey  the  effluvium  far  and 
wide."  Although  left  for  nearly  a  month,  \vith  hundreds  of 
vultures  passing  over  it  daily,  none  of  them  discovered  its 
presence.  Another  time  a  perfectly  dry  stuffed  deerskin  was 
placed  in  a  field,  and  immediately  attracted  the  vultures, 
which  were  of  course  unable  to  get  any  food.  To  test  still 
further  whether  the  birds  were  attracted  by  sight  alone,  '"  a 


THE   HAWKS,  EAGLES,  KITES,  AND   VULTURES.        217 

coarse  painting  on  canvas  was  made,  representing  a  sheep 
skinned  and  cut  open.  This  proved  very  amusing.  No 
sooner  was  the  picture  placed  on  the  ground  than  the  vul- 
tures observed  it,  alighted  near,  walked  over  it,  and.  some  of 
them  commenced  tugging  at  the  painting.  They  seemed 
much  disappointed  and  surprised,  and  after  having  satisfied 
their  curiosity,  flew  away.  This  experiment  was  repeated 
more  than  fifty  times,  with  the  same  result."  In  other  cases 
pieces  of  meat  were  placed  beneath  tables  and  other  pieces 


THE  BLACK  VULTURE. 

(After  Brehm.) 


on  top.     The  vultures  would  eat  those  in  sight,  but  made  no 
attempt  to  reach  those  just  beneath  their  noses. 

The  way  in  which  vultures  from  far  and  wide  rapidly  con- 
centrate on  a  dead  animal  is  explained  by  Audubon  by  the 
fact  that,  when  the  first  discoverer  pounces  down  upon  its 
prey,  the  action  is  seen  and  understood  by  others  in  the 
vicinity ;  these  fly  immediately  to  the  spot.  As  they  start 
they  are  seen  by  others,  which  in  turn  signal  to  more  dis- 
tant birds,  so  that  in  a  very  short  time  the  vultures  for  miles 


218  BIRDS  IX  THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

around  are  aware  thai  something  in  the  shape  of  food  has 
been  found. 

The  turkey-buzzard  is  a  summer  and  winter  resident 
throughout  the  United  States  as  far  north  as  the  latitude  of 
40  degrees,  and  occurs  in  summer  still  farther  north.  For 
instance,  it  is  abundant  throughout  the  year  in  southern 
Illinois,  and  is  sometimes  seen  in  summer  in  northern  Illinois. 
It  is  a  more  graceful  bird  than  the  carrion  crow.  In  the 
breeding  season  each  female  lays  two  eggs  on  the  ground 
or  in  a  hollow  tree  or  stump. 

The  black  vulture  is  darker  colored  than  the  turkey- 
buzzard  and  the  feathers  extend  farther  up  on  the  back  of 
the  neck.  Its  nesting  habits  are  similar  to  those  of  the  other 
species.  It  is  not  commonly  found  so  far  north  as  the 
turkey-buzzard,  although  like  that  bird  it  is  abundant  in 
Central  and  South  America. 

These  birds  both  belong  to  the  family  Cathartidce,  which  is 
composed  of  the  American  vultures.  The  only  other  member 
of  the  family  occurring  in  the  United  States  is  the  Californian 
condor,  a  large  bird  found  on  the  Pacific  coast  with  habits 
similar  to  those  of  the  turkey-buzzard. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND  SHORE-BIRDS. 
THE    PIGEONS. 

MOST  educated  Americans  are  familiar  with  accounts  of  the 
enormous  numbers  of  PASSENGER  PIGEONS  which  formerly  in- 
habited many  of  our  States.  Some  of  the  stories  seem  almost 
incredible,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are  substantially 
true.  Audubon's  graphic  description  is  well  worth  quoting 
in  this  connection. 

u  Let  us  now  inspect  the  places  of  nightly  rendezvous. 
One  of  these  curious  roosting  places  on  the  bank  of  the 
Green  River  in  Kentucky  I  repeatedly  visited.  It  was,  as  is 
always  the  case,  in  a  portion  of  the  forest  where  the  trees  are 
of  great  magnitude  and  where  there  was  little  underwood. 
I  rode  through  it  upward  of  forty  miles,  and,  crossing  it  in 
different  parts,  found  its  average  breadth  to  be  rather  more 
than  three  miles.  My  first  view  of  it  was  about  a  fortnight 
subsequent  to  the  period  when  they  had  made  a  choice  of  it, 
and  I  arrived  there  two  hours  before  sunset.  Few  pigeons 
were  to  be  seen,  but  a  great  number  of  persons,  with  horses 
and  wagons,  guns  and  ammunition,  had  already  established 
encampments  on  the  borders.  Two  farmers  from  the  vicinity 
of  Russelsville,  distant  more  than  a  hundred  miles,  had  driven 
upward  of  three  hundred  hogs  to  be  fattened  on  the  pigeons 
which  were  to  be  slaughtered.  Here  and  there  the  people  em- 
ployed in  plucking  and  salting  what  had  already  been  procured 
were  seen  sitting  in  the  midst  of  large  piles  of  these  birds. 
The  dung  lay  several  inches  deep,  covering  the  whole  extent  of 
the  roosting  place  like  a  bed  of  snow.  Many  trees  I  observed 
were  broken  off  at  no  great  distance  from  the  ground ;  and 
the  branches  of  many  of  the  largest  and  tallest  had  given 

219 


220  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

way,  as  if  the  forest  had  been  swept  by  a  tornado.  Every- 
thing proved  to  me  that  the  number  of  birds  resorting  to  this 
part  of  the  forest  must  be  immense  beyond  conception.  As 
the  period  of  their  arrival  approached,  their  foes  anxiously 
prepared  to  receive  them.  Some  were  provided  with  iron 
pots  containing  sulphur,  others  with  torches  of  pine  knots, 
many  with  poles,  and  the  rest  with  guns.  The  sun  was  lost 
to  our  view,  yet  not  a  dozen  had  arrived.  Everything  was 
ready  and  all  eyes  were  gazing  on  the  clear  sky  which  ap- 
peared in  glimpses  through  the  tall  trees.  Suddenly  there 
burst  forth  a  general  cry  of  '  Here  they  come.'  The  noise  which 
they  made,  though  yet  distant,  reminded  me  of  a  hard  gale 
at  sea  passing  through  the  rigging  of  a  close-reefed  vessel. 
As  the  birds  arrived  and  passed  over  me,  I  felt  a  current  of 
air  that  surprised  me.  Thousands  were  soon  knocked  down 
by  the  pole  men.  The  birds  continued  to  pour  in.  The  fires 
were  lighted,  and  a  magnificent  as  well  as  wonderful  and 
almost  terrifying  sight  presented  itself.  The  pigeons  arrived 
by  thousands,  alighted  everywhere,  one  above  another,  until 
solid  masses  as  large  as  hogsheads  were  formed  on  the 
branches  all  around.  Here  and  there  the  perches  gave  way 
under  the  weight  with  a  crash,  and  falling  to  the  ground 
destroyed  hundreds  of  the  birds  beneath,  forcing  down  the 
dense  groups  with  which  every  stick  was  loaded.  It  was  a 
scene  of  uproar  and  confusion.  I  found  it  quite  useless  to  speak 
or  even  to  shout  to  those  persons  who  were  nearest  to  me. 
Even  the  reports  of  the  guns  were  seldom  heard,  and  I  was 
made  aware  of  the  firing  only  by  seeing  the  shooters  reloading. 
"  No  one  dared  to  venture  within  the  line  of  devastation. 
The  hogs  had  been  penned  up  in  due  time,  the  picking  up  of 
the  dead  and  wounded  being  for  the  next  morning's  employ- 
ment. The  pigeons  were  constantly  coming,  and  it  was  past 
midnight  before  I  perceived  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  those 
that  arrived.  The  uproar  continued  the  whole  night ;  and, 
as  I  was  anxious  to  know  to  what  distance  the  sound  reached, 


THE   PIGEONS,   GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS. 


221 


I  sent  off  a  man  accustomed  to  perambulate  the  forest,  who, 
returning  two  hours  afterwards,  informed  me  he  had  heard 
it  distinctly  when  three  miles  distant  from  the  spot.  To- 
wards the  approach  of  day  the  noise  in  some  measure  sub- 
sided. Long  before  objects  were  distinguishable,  the  pigeons 
began  to  move  off  in  a  direction  quite  different  from  that  in 
which  they  arrived  the  evening  before,  and  by  sunrise  all  that 
were  able  to  fly  had  disappeared.  The  bowlings  of  the 
wolves  now  reached  our  ears,  and  the  foxes,  lynxes,  cougars, 


THE  MOURNING-DOVE. 
(After  Biological  Survey.) 

bears,  raccoons,  opossums,  and  polecats  were  seen  sneaking 
off,  whilst  eagles  and  hawks  of  different  species,  accompanied 
by  a  crowd  of  vultures,  came  to  supplant  them  and  to  enjoy 
their  share  of  the  spoil. 

44  It  was  then  that  the  authors  of  all  this  devastation  began 
their  entry  amongst  the  dead,  the  dying,  and  the  mangled. 
The  pigeons  were  picked  up  and  piled  in  heaps  until  each 
had  as  many  as  he  could  possibly  dispose  of,  when  the  hogs 
were  let  loose  to  feed  upon  the  remainder.1' 


222  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

The  food  of  the  passenger  pigeon  is  almost  wholly  of  a 
vegetable  nature,  although  occasionally  a  few  insects  are 
eaten.  Its  usual  diet  consists  of  acorns  and  other  nuts,  to- 
gether with  seeds  and  grains.  Even  the  young  are  fed  upon 
beechnuts.  In  the  United  States  the  passenger  pigeon  is  now 
practically  an  extinct  bird,  the  ruthless  persecution  it  has  en- 
dured having  led  to  this  result. 

The  MOURNING  or  CAROLINA  DOVE  is  a  beautiful  bird  whose 
plumage  and  habits  entitle  it  to  high  consideration.  It  is 
vegetivorous,  but  seems  to  feed  more  freely  on  the  seeds  of 
weeds  than  on  cultivated  grains.  Professor  King  took  four 
thousand  and  sixteen  seeds  of  pigeon-grass  (Seta-rid)  from 
the  stomach  of  a  single  bird,  while  from  that  of  another 
seven  thousand  five  hundred  seeds  of  oxalis  have  been  taken. 
The  young  are  fed  with  the  regurgitated  vegetable  food  of  the 
adult. 

The  BAND-TAILED  PIGEON  (Columba  fasciata),  which  ranges 
westward  from  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  southward  through 
Mexico,  is  about  the  only  pigeon  that  we  now  have  worthy 
to  be  called  game.  It  is  sought  by  sportsmen  both  for  its 
flesh  and  for  its  gamy  qualities.  Its  food  consists  of  grain, 
berries  and  other  soft  fruits,  and  buds  of  certain  trees,  notably 
of  balsam-poplar. 

THE    PARTRIDGE    AND    GROUSE. 

The  BOB-WHITE,  or  QUAIL,  is  found  from  Minnesota  to 
Texas  and  eastward.  It  is  favorably  regarded  by  epicures 
and  gunners  and  deserves  the  good  will  of  those  interested  in 
agriculture.  It  lives  in  fields  and  pastures  and  during  the 
summer  feeds  largely  on  insects.  Colorado  potato-beetles  are 
frequently  eaten :  one  hundred  and  one  of  these  pests  have 
been  taken  from  the  stomach  of  one  bird.  Army-worms  are 
also  devoured.  When  insects  are  not  plentiful,  vegetable 
matter,  which  is  always  taken  in  greater  or  less  quantities, 
becomes  the  staple  form  of  diet.  This  includes  grains,  seeds, 


THE    PIGEONS.   GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS. 


223 


nuts,  berries,  and  green  leaves.  Twenty-one  quail  taken 
in  Nebraska  between  May  and  October  had  all  eaten  seeds 
arid  from  thirty-one  to  forty-seven  insects  each.  Of  two 
taken  in  New  Hampshire  in  the  winter  when  the  ground  was 
covered  with  snow,  and  examined  by  us,  one  had  eaten  seven 
oats,  ten  barberries,  one  poison-ivy  seed,  and  some  bits  of 
green  leaf  that  were  not  determined ;  the  other  had  eaten 
twenty-five  oats,  twelve  barberries,  seven  small  seeds,  and 


THE  BOB-WHITE  OK  QUAIL. 

nine  leaves  of  white  clover.  The  oats  had  evidently  been 
taken  from  horse  droppings  in  the  road  near  by.  According 
to  the  studies  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  "seeds  of 
rib-grass,  tickfoil,  and  berries  of  nightshade  are  sometimes 
eaten,  and  pigeon-grass  and  smartweed  are  frequently  con- 
sumed in  large  quantities.  The  amount  of  grain  food  in  the 
stomachs  thus  far  examined  is  surprisingly  small,  while  the 
proportion  of  weed  seed  is  astonishingly  large,  in  some  cases 


224 


BIRDS    IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 


crops  and  gizzards  being  literally  gorged  with   hundreds  of 
seeds  of  ragweed/'1 

The  RUFFED  GROUSE  as  a  garne-bird  ranks  higher  in  popular 
esteem  in  the  East  than  any  other  bird.  The  flesh  is  white 
and  delicious,  and  its  wariness  and  rapid  flight  exact  the  best 
efforts  of  even  the  most  experienced  sportsman.  Its  food  habits 
are  of  secondary  importance,  but  nevertheless  interesting. 
The  following,  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher,  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Washington,  bears  directly  on  this  point. 


THE  RUFFED  GROUSE. 


"The  ruffed  grouse  is  very  fond  of  grasshoppers  and 
crickets  as  an  article  of  diet,  and  when  these  insects  are 
abundant  it  is  rare  to  find  a  stomach  or  crop  that  does  not 
contain  their  remains.  One  specimen,  shot  late  in  October, 
had  the  crop  and  stomach  distended  with  the  larvae  of  Edema 
albifrons,  a  caterpillar  ^which  feeds  extensively  on  the  leaves 
of  the  maple.  It  is  called  the  red-humped  oak-caterpillar. 

1  Judd,  Yearbook,  Dept.  Ag.,  1898,  p.  231. 


THE   RED-HUMPED   OAK-CATERPILLAR, 
a,  larva  ;  b,  pupa  ;  c,  moth,  wings  expanded  ;  d,  moth  at  rest. 


15 


226  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

Beechnuts,  chestnuts,  and  acorns  of  the  chestnut  and  white 
oaks  are  also  common  articles  of  food.  Among  berries  early 
in  the  season  the  blackberries,  blueberries,  raspberries,  and 
elder-berries  are  eaten  with  relish,  while  later  in  the  year 
wintergreen,  partridge-berry,  with  their  foliage,  sumach-berries 
(including  those  of  the  poisonous  species),  cranberries,  black 
alder,  dogwood,  nanny-berries,  and  Avild  grapes  form  their 
chief  diet.  In  the  fall  the  foliage  of  plants  often  forms  a 
large  part  of  their  food,  that  of  clover,  strawberry,  buttercup, 
wintergreen,  and  partridge-berry  predominating.  In  the  win- 
ter these  birds  feed  on  the  buds  of  trees,  preferring  those  of 
the  apple-tree,  ironwood,  black  and  white  birch,  and  poplar." 

In  isolated  cases  ruffed  grouse  cause  some  damage  to  fruit- 
trees  by  eating  the  buds  in  winter.  The  extent  of  the  injury 
which  a  grouse  is  capable  of  doing  in  a  season  may  be  esti- 
mated from  the  contents  of  a  crop  examined  by  us.  It  was 
taken  from  a  female  shot  in  January,  and  contained  three 
hundred  and  forty-seven  apple-tree  buds,  eighty-eight  maple 
buds,  and  twelve  leaves  of  sheep-laurel.  This  was,  of  course, 
a  single  meal,  and,  as  two  such  meals  are  eaten  per  day,  it 
must  be  reckoned  as  half  the  daily  consumption. 

One  of  the  crops  of  four  birds  killed  during  the  latter  part 
of  September  and  subjected  to  the  same  scrutiny  showed 
barberries  five  per  cent.,  sumac  seeds  twenty  per  cent.,  and 
apple  pulp  twenty  per  cent.  Another  contained  ten  per  cent, 
of  mushrooms  and  ninety  per  cent,  of  red-humped  oak-cater- 
pillars (Edema  albifrons).  The  other  two  were  shot  from  the 
same  flock  at  the  same  time.  Their  crops  were  packed  with 
the  oak  caterpillars  above  mentioned  and  white-oak  acorns, 
the  ratios  being  sixty  per  cent,  and  seventy-seven  per  cent, 
of  caterpillars  against  forty  per  cent,  and  twenty-three  per 
cent,  of  acorns  respectively. 

The  PRAIRIE-HEN  is  of  more  importance  than  any  other 
member  of  the  grouse  family.  It  is  abundant  in  the  prairie 
region  drained  by  the  Mississippi,  and  furnishes  regular  occu- 


THE   PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS.  227 

pation  for  a  multitude  of  gunners.     Markets  east  and  west 
are  supplied  with  great  numbers  of  these  birds. 

The  food  of  this  species  seems  to  be  not  materially  different 
from  that  of  other  grouse  in  temperate  latitudes.  Insects 
form  the  major  portion  of  the  diet  in  summer.  It  is  fond  of 
grasshoppers  and  lives  on  them  almost  exclusively  when  they 
are  sufficiently  abundant. 

In  autumn  and  winter  it  is  usually  found  in  the  grain-fields 
feeding  on  cereals  as  well  as  seeds  and  berries.  In  the  north- 
ern portion  of  its  range  the  females  usually  migrate  southward 
to  escape  the  rigors  of  winter,  leaving  the  stronger  males  on 
the  home  ground. 

The  COLUMBIAN  SHARP-TAILED  GROUSE,  which  ranges  over  the 
Great  Plains  and  from  northern  California  to  Alaska,  ranks 
among  the  highest  as  a  game-bird  and  its  flesh  is  unexcelled 
for  the  table.  It  feeds  on  berries,  among  which  may  be 
mentioned  the  snow-berry,  bear-berry,  whortleberry,  and 
haws  of  the  wild  rose,  seeds,  grains,  and  insects. 

The  DUSKY  GROUSE  and  its  closely  allied  races,  the  SOOTY 
GROUSE  and  RICHARDSON'S  GROUSE,  which  together  extend 
through  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  westward  to  the  Pacific,  are 
perhaps  the  finest  of  our  grouse.  The  dusky  grouse  is  large, 
weighing  about  three  pounds,  and  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  year  its  flesh  has  a  resinous  flavor  much  relished  by  those 
accustomed  to  it.  Except  for  a  little  while  in  summer,  when 
it  descends  to  the  ground  to  feed  on  berries  and  seeds,  it  lives 
mainly  in  the  pines  and  firs,  the  leaves  of  which  constitute  its 
main  food. 

Of  all  our  game-birds  none  are  so  handsome  as  the  several 
species  of  plumed  partridges  found  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. The  MOUNTAIN  PARTRIDGE,  found  along  the  Pacific  coast 
from  San  Francisco  to  Washington,  and  the  CALIFORNIA  PAR- 
TRIDGE, with  two  races  representing  it  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  United  States,  have  an  economic  value,  both  as  to 
food  habits  and  table  qualities,  similar  to  the  eastern  bob- 


228  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

white.  They  may  readily  be  kept  in  confinement  and  are 
therefore  well  adapted  for  stocking  preserves  wherever  the 
environment  is  suitable. 

THE    PLOVERS. 

The  plovers  are  generally  distinguished  by  their  bills,  which 
are  of  only  medium  length  and  are  constricted  between  the 
base  and  tip ;  most  of  the  birds  lack  a  hind  toe.  Economi- 
cally they  stand  with  the  rest  of  the  shore-birds.  Of  the 
half-dozen  species  found  in  our  territory,  we  will  consider  the 
three  most  important, — namely,  the  ring-neck  plover,  the 
killdeer,  and  the  golden  plover. 

The  RING-NECK  PLOVER  is  a  diffused  species,  abundant  during 
the  seasons  of  migration,  especially  along  the  beaches.  Though 
numbers  of  them  are  shot,  the  bit  they  furnish  seems  hardly 
worth  the  ammunition.  They  are  of  more  value  living,  as 
eleven  stomachs  examined  by  Professor  Aughey  testify :  in 
each  were  from  fifty-three  to  sixty  insects,  more  than  half 
being  locusts. 

In  many  parts  of  the  United  States  the  KILLDEER,  or  the 
KILLDEER  PLOVER,  is  one  of  the  most  familiar  country  birds. 
It  is  a  summer  resident  in  most  of  the  Northern  States.  It 
commonly  occurs  in  upland  pastures,  as  well  as  along  the 
margins  of  shallow  ponds  or  the  beaches  of  lakes  or  the 
ocean.  It  winters  in  the  South:  in  Florida  we  have  seen 
these  birds  abundant  during  January,  in  small  flocks  spending 
most  of  their  time  along  the  shores  of  the  numerous  ponds 
and  lakes  of  that  State.  The  major  portion  of  the  food  con- 
sists of  insects ;  angle-worms,  crayfish,  and  similar  creatures 
making  up  the  remainder.  In  the  stomachs  of  thirteen  speci- 
mens examined  by  King  there  were  found  ants,  grasshop- 
pers and  crickets  and  their  eggs,  caterpillars,  moths,  wire- 
worms,  curculios,  plant-beetles,  a  crane-fly,  and  angle-worms. 
"  The  food-habits  and  haunts  of  the  killdeer  are  such  as  to 
bind  it  closely  in  economic  relation  with  that  all  too  small 


THE   PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS.  229 

band  of  birds  which  like  the  meadow-lark  frequent  the  open 
cultivated  fields.  On  account  of  this  relationship  the  killdeer 
plover  should  be  stricken  from  the  list  of  '  game-birds,'  and 
encouraged  to  breed  in  greater  abundance  in  cultivated  fields 
and  meadows."  Many  years  ago  a  writer  in  the  Southern 
Planter  stated  that  the  Southern  farmers  erroneously  thought 
that  the  killdeer  destroyed  young  turnips.  u  I  have  several 
times  dissected  the  gizzards  of  killdeers,"  he  writes,  "to  show 
their  destroyers  that  they  contain  no  vegetable  substance,  and 
nothing,  indeed,  but  the  little  bug  so  famous  for  destroying 
young  turnips  and  tobacco  plants.  These  little  hopping 
beetles  are  a  great  nuisance  in  the  land,  and  seem  to  be 
rapidly  increasing.  The  killdeers  are  their  natural  enemies, 
and  formerly  collected  in  large  numbers  to  fulfil  the  purposes 
of  their  mission.1'  * 

The  GOLDEN  PLOVER  breeds  in  the  Arctic  regions,  but  in  the 
migration  season  it  is  very  abundant  and  is  highly  esteemed 
as  a  game-bird.  It  feeds  on  grasshoppers  and  other  insects, 
worms,  and  berries. 

THE  SNIPES. 

In  the  snipe  family  are  many  birds  highly  valued  as  game- 
birds,  and  some  that  are  useful  as  insect  destroyers.  At  the 
head  of  the  list  stands  the  AMERICAN  WOODCOCK,  a  familiar 
game-bird  in  the  Eastern  States  and  occurring  as  far  west  as 
Nebraska.  Few  birds  have  so  many  good  points  as  this  :  it  is 
pre-eminently  a  game-bird  in  every  sense  of  the  term,  de- 
manding all  the  skill  of  the  hunter  and  being  unexcelled  in 
the  quality  of  its  flesh. 

It  is  one  of  the  earliest  arrivals  in  spring  and  the  return 
flight  is  not  completed  until  late  in  autumn.  In  spring  and 
early  summer  it  lives  in  swampy  places,  probing  the  black 
mud  with  its  long  bill  for  worms.  In  August  it  flies  out  to 

1  Quoted  by  Wilson  Flagg,  Agr.  of  Mass.,  1861,  pt.  II.  p.  55. 


230  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

the  corn-fields,  where  it  finds  an  abundance  of  worms,  grass- 
hoppers, and  otheir  insects,  the  shade  of  the  tall  corn  being 
quite  as  agreeable  to  these  birds  as  the  tangles  of  the  swamp. 
Later  they  return  to  the  runs,  but  after  the  leaves  have  begun 
to  fall  they  may  often  be  found  on  high  ground,  in  hard-wood 
forests,  or  among  the  high  shrubbery  of  neglected  pastures. 
Here  they  turn  over  leaves,  looking  for  hidden  insects  and 
larvae  that  lie  underneath.  This  is  in  October  when  the 
woodcock  is  at  its  best.  A  curious  feature  of  a  woodcock's 
bill,  recently  discovered,  is  that  it  is  able  to  bend  its  upper 
mandible  upward  towards  the  point,  which  must  aid  it  in  the 
process  of  feeling  about  for  worms  deep  in  the  soft  earth. 

"The  growing  scarcity  of  woodcock,1'  writes  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher, 
"is  a  matter  of  serious  alarm,  and  one  demanding  prompt 
action.  It  must  be  remembered  that  there  is  far  more  diffi- 
culty in  saving  it  from  extinction  than  in  preserving  gallina- 
ceous birds,  such  as  quail  and  grouse.  In  the  case  of  these 
birds,  with  their  extraordinary  fecundity,  it  is  not  difficult  to 
restore  a  depleted  covert ;  for  with  the  addition  of  a  few  im- 
ported birds,  aided  by  a  short  term  of  protection,  they  should 
soon  reach  their  former  abundance.  With  the  woodcock, 
however,  the  situation  is  different ;  for  the  impracticability  of 
restocking,  the  nature  of  the  food,  the  migratory  habits,  and 
the  small  number  of  young  are  serious  obstacles  to  successful 
restoration.  Quick  and  effective  measures  are  needed.  In 
many  localities  in  the  North  where  twenty- five  years  ago  a 
fair  shot  with  a  good  dog  could  secure  forty  or  fifty  birds  in  a 
day's  hunt,  it  is  doubtful  if  ten  per  cent,  of  the  former  bag 
could  now  be  obtained.  During  the  past  autumn  (1901)  the 
writer  visited  hundreds  of  acres  of  good  woodcock  ground  in 
northern  New  York  without  flushing  a  bird  or  seeing  any 
considerable  signs.  Reports  as  to  the  scarcity  of  birds  come 
from  numerous  points,  and  even  in  the  most  favored  localities 
the  decrease  within  the  past  twenty  years  has  been  fifty  to 
sixty  per  cent." 


THE   PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS.  231 

This  scarcity  is  to  be  attributed  chiefly  to  lack  of  protec- 
tion by  law  in  the  Southern  States,  where  the  species  passes 
the  winter,  and  to  the  spring  and  summer  shooting  in  many 
of  the  Northern  States.  It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  these 
evils  should  be  remedied  before  this  valuable  bird  becomes 
practically  extinct. 

The  AMERICAN  or  WILSON'S  SNIPE  is  similar  in  its  make-up  to 
the  woodcock,  but  it  chooses  different  abodes.  This  snipe  is 
found  in  open  wet  places,  in  meadows,  or  on  sedgy  banks, 
where  it  can  force  its  long,  sensitive  bill  into  the  soft  turf. 
Besides  the  worms  taken  in  this  way,  it  also  catches  many 
grasshoppers  and  other  insects  found  upon  the  surface. 
Eight  out  of  eleven  stomachs  opened  by  Professor  Aughey 
contained  from  thirty-eight  to  sixty  locusts  each,  besides  other 
insects.  The  toothsomeness  of  the  snipe  is  equal  to  that  of 
the  woodcock,  though  its  size  is  somewhat  less. 

The  GRAY  SNIPE,  or  DOWITCHER,  is  similar  to  the  last,  except 
that  it  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  coast  and  consequently 
destroys  few  noxious  insects,  though  it  is  quite  as  much  a 
favorite  with  the  gunner. 

The  MARBLED  GODWIT  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  shore- 
birds  ;  it  is  known  on  the  Atlantic  coast  only  in  the  South, 
but  is  widely  diffused  in  the  temperate  regions  of  the  interior. 
During  the  breeding  season  it  is  often  found  on  the  prairies 
some  distance  from  water.  Its  diet  is  purely  insectivorous. 
Richardson  tells  us  that  on  Saskatchewan  plains  it  frequents 
marshes  and  bogs,  walking  on  the  swamp  .moss,  and  thrusting 
down  its  long  bill  to  the  nostrils  in  quest  of  worms  and 
beeches. 

The  HUDSONIAN  GODWIT  is  somewhat  smaller  than  the  last, 
and,  though  more  widely  distributed,  is  far  less  common. 

The  WILLET  occurs  as  a  summer  resident  throughout  the 
country,  though  more  commonly  coastwise.  It  is  a  large, 
noisy  species,  not  different  in  its  food  habits  from  shore-birds 
in  general.  It  follows  marshes,  often  annoying  hunters  by  its 


232  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

shrill  notes  of  alarm.  Other  birds  have  learned  to  take  warn- 
ing when  the  willet  cries,  and  leave  a  dangerous  neighborhood. 
The  name  tattler  has  been  applied  to  it  and  to  others  of  its 
class.  In  spite  of  all  their  acuteness,  willets  often  fall  victims 
to  the  huntsman,  large  numbers  of  them  being  shot  every 
season. 

The  GREATER  YELLOW-LEGS  is  another  tattler  much  sought 
in  the  marshes.  It  is  chiefly  a  migrant  through  the  country 
at  large,  noisy  and  restless  like  the  willet. 

The  UPLAND  SAND-PIPER,  commonly  called  the  UPLAND  PLOVER, 
is  something  of  an  anomaly,  being  fitted  out  with  a  wader's 
bill  and  legs,  yet  avoiding  the  water.  It  is  common  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains  eastward,  breeding  on  the  prairies  of  the 
Western  States  and  on  high  grass-land  in  the  East.  It  feeds 
on  beetles,  grasshoppers,  and  other  insects,  and  is  a  continual 
benefit  while  it  stays.  Aughey  states  that  in  Nebraska  in 
locust  years  uthe  bulk  of  the  food  of  this  species  consisted  of 
locusts."  Rev.  J.  H.  Langille  relates  that  this  sand-piper  some- 
times devours  cantharides ;  its  flesh  then  becomes  a  violent 
emetic.  It  holds  a  high  place  as  a  game-bird  and  is  unsur- 
passed for  the  table. 

THE    CURLEWS. 

The  curlews  are  distinguished  from  the  other  snipes  by 
their  size  and  long  decurved  bills.  Of  the  three  species  found 
in  our  limits,  the  LONG-BILLED  CURLEW,  or  SICKLE-BILL,  is  the 
largest  and  most  abundant.  Its  habitat  is  the  whole  of  North 
America.  It  breeds  throughout  its  range,  but  most  abundantly 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  and  on  the  prairies  of  the  Northwest. 
These  birds  are  generally  found  near  the  water,  feeding  upon 
the  various  forms  of  animal  life  common  to  the  shore.  In 
summer  they  devour  many  grasshoppers  and  kindred  insects. 
Of  ten  stomachs  examined  by  Aughey,  eight  had  from  fifty-one 
to  seventy  locusts,  besides  seeds  and  other  insects  ;  the  other 
two  had  from  fifty-three  to  sixty-one  other  insects  and  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  seeds.  Wilson  tells  us  that  in  the  fall  they 


THE   PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS.  233 

frequent  uplands  in  search  of  bramble-berries,  upon  which 
they  get  very  fat. 

The  HUDSONIAN  and  ESKIMO  CURLEWS  are  migrants  only, 
breeding  in  high  latitudes  and  mostly  passing  beyond  our 
southern  boundaries  in  winter.  Their  food  habits  are  quite 
similar  to  those  of  the  sickle-bill.  All  eat  more  or  less  seeds 
and  berries,  differing  in  this  respect  from  the  majority  of 
sand-pipers.  All  are  excellent  for  food. 

There  is  quite  a  list  of  small  sand-pipers  which  are  very  sim- 
ilar to  each  other  in  economic  value.  Their  diet  consists  chiefly 
of  aquatic  insects,  worms,  and  small  mollusks.  Their  open 
habits  do  not  commend  them,  to  sportsmen  and  they  are  too 
small  to  be  of  much  consequence  as  food.  The  pot-hunter, 
however,  destroys  numbers  of  them  each  season  along  the 
beaches,  preferring  thus  to  earn  a  few  pennies  by  a  slaughter 
of  the  innocents  and  to  gratify  a  lust  for  murder  rather  than 
to  turn  his  hand  to  honorable  labor 

THE    PHALAROPES. 

The  phalaropes  are  a  family  of  small  sand-piper-like  birds, 
having  lobed  toes  and  thick  under  feathers  which  enable  them 
to  swim.  They  are  usually  seen  floating  lightly  about  upon 
the  water,  catching  flies  in  the  air  or  gathering  larva?  from  the 
water ;  on  shore  they  take  worms  and  various  aquatic  forms 
found  there.  The  best-known  representative  of  the  family  is 
WILSON'S  PHALAROPE,  which  is  abundant  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley  and  westward,  though  rarely  occurring  east  of  Illinois. 

Two  other  species,  the  RED  and  NORTHERN  PHALAROPES, 
appear  in  limited  numbers  during  migration,  but  they  are  of 
comparatively  little  importance. 

THE    RAILS. 

The  rails  are  narrow-bodied  birds  of  medium  size  which  live 
in  reedy  marshes.  They  are  much  sought  by  sportsmen  and 
are  considered  very  good  birds  for  the  table.  They  are  very 


234  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

shy  and  hard  to  flush,  depending  for  safety  more  upon  their 
legs  than  upon  their  wings.  They  fly  awkwardly  and  with 
seeming  difficulty,  a  puzzling  matter  when  the  extent  of  their 
migration  is  considered. 

The  members  of  the  genus  Rallus,  comprising  the  CLAPPER, 
KING,  and  VIRGINIA  RAILS,  have  bills  longer  than  the  head,  and 
feed  chiefly  upon  grasshoppers,  snails,  slugs,  small  crabs, 
aquatic  insects,  and  occasionally  a  few  seeds.  The  clapper 
rail  frequents  salt-marshes  as  far  north  as  Massachusetts. 


HEAD  OF  CLAPPER  RAIL. 


The  rails  are  found  from  Texas  to  Kansas  and  eastward, 
though  in  the  East  not  usually  north  of  the  Middle  States. 
Seven  stomachs  of  king  rails  taken  at  different  times  between 
May  and  October  and  opened  by  Aughey  each  contained  from 
seventeen  to  forty-eight  locusts  and  from  fourteen  to  forty-nine 
other  insects,  besides  a  few  seeds.  The  Virginia  rail  is  the 
most  common  rail  in  the  Eastern  States  as  far  north  as  New 
England. 

Members    of  the   genus   Porzana,  including   the   CAROLINA 
RAIL,  the   RLACK  RAIL,  and  the  YELLOW  CRAKE,  have  rather 


THE   PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS.  235 

thick  bills,  shorter  than  the  head,  and  feed  more  on  vegetable 
matter.  The  only  one  of  the  group  common  enough  to  be  of 
any  special  importance  is  the  Carolina  rail.  Thousands  of  the 
latter  are  killed  annually  in  the  Atlantic  States  for  market. 
They  feed  largely  on  seeds  in  the  fall,  when  they  become  fat 
and  are  excellent  eating.  They  are  a  diffused  species,  breeding 
from  the  Middle  States  northward. 

THE    GALLINULES,    COOT,    AND    CRANES. 

The  gallinules  resemble  the  rails  in  their  habits  and  appear- 
ance ;  they  are  larger  than  most  rails,  however,  and  are  dis- 
tinguished by  a  horny  plate,  or  shield,  which  extends  from  the 
bill  upward  over  the  forehead.  Their  food  is  not  noticeably 
different  from  that  of  the  genus  Porzana  of  the  rails.  The 
PURPLE  GALLINULE  is  a  resident  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
States.  The  FLORIDA  GALLINULE  is  found  throughout  the  warmer 
portions  of  the  country,  frequently  reaching  New  England. 
Both  are  called  mud-hens  by  gunners. 

The  term  mud-hen  is  also  applied  to  the  COOT,  which  is 
allied  to  the  gallinules,  having  the  same  outline  and  frontal 
shield.  It  is  peculiar  in  having  lobate  toes,  which  enable  it  to 
swim  easily.  Most  of  its  time  is  spent  on  the  water  along 
marshy  shores,  where  it  finds  shelter  among  the  tall  grass  and 
reeds.  Its  food  consists  of  insects,  aquatic  plants,  and  small 
mollusks.  Its  flesh  is  frequently  eaten,  though  generally  it  is 
not  highly  esteemed. 

The  cranes  are  large  waders  resembling  the  herons  in  out- 
ward appearance,  but  differing  from  them  in  structure  and 
habits.  The  WHOOPING  CRANE  is  chiefly  a  migrant,  moving  up 
and  down  the  Mississippi  Valley  with  the  changing  seasons ; 
it  is  an  omnivorous  feeder.  Audubon  found  these  birds  in 
November  tearing  up  lily-roots  from  the  bottom  of  a  dry  pond. 
Again  in  the  same  month  he  says,  "  They  resort  to  fields,  and 
feed  on  grain  and  peas  and  dig  up  potatoes,  which  they  devour 
with  remarkable  greediness.11  In  April  they  had  left  the  fields 


236  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

and  removed  to  the  swamps  and  lakes,  where  they  caught 
frogs,  lizards,  snakes,  and  young  alligators.  He  saw  one  catch 
and  swallow  a  butterfly,  and  from  the  stomach  of  another  he 
took  a  fifteen-inch  garter-snake.  Wilson  credits  them  with 
eating  mice,  moles,  and  rats. 

The  SAND-HILL  CRANE  is  common  in  the  South  and  West, 
being  a  more  southerly  species  than  the  whooping  crane. 
Four  stomachs  of  this  crane  examined  by  Aughey  showed 
from  thirty-seven  to  eighty  locusts  and  from  thirty-six  to 
seventy-eight  other  insects  in  each,  besides  more  or  less  seeds. 
Both  species  are  edible,  but  they  should  not  be  sacrificed  for 
this  purpose. 

THE    HERONS,    IBISES,    AND    STORKS. 

The  herons  are  waders,  with  sharp,  spear-like  bills,  that  fre- 
quent shores  and  marshes,  feeding  on  any  sort  of  animals 
small  enough  to  be  swallowed  that  may  come  in  their  way. 
Their  flesh  has  a  fishy  taste  which  renders  it  unpalatable  to 
most  people.  Taxonomists  separate  the  ibises  and  storks  from 
the  herons  proper,  but,  as  they  all  have  the  same  economic 
value,  it  wrill  best  serve  our  purpose  to  consider  them  under 
the  same  heading. 

The  WHITE  IBIS  is  an  abundant  resident  of  Florida,  common 
throughout  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  and  northward 
to  Ohio.  It  feeds  upon  crabs,  crawfish,  snails,  and  the  like. 
Audubon  relates  that  when  the  crawfish  burrows  deeply  to 
find  water  in  dry  seasons,  this  ibis  crushes  the  mound  raised 
about  the  burrow ;  some  of  the  dirt  falls  down  upon  the 
crawfish,  which  hastens  to  the  surface  to  throw  it  out  again, 
when  the  crafty  bird  quickly  plucks  him  from  his  hiding- 
place. 

The  WOOD  STORK,  better  known  as  the  WOOD  IBIS,  is  a  large, 
gregarious  wader,  usually  found  in  the  thickly-wooded  swamps 
of  the  Southern  States.  It  devours  fish,  snakes,  frogs,  young 
alligators,  crabs,  rats,  and  young  birds.  It  is  related  to  -the 
famous  white  stork  of  Europe. 


THE   PIGEONS,  GROUSE,  AND   SHORE-BIRDS.  237 

The  BITTERN,  or  STAKE-DRIVER,  is  common  throughout  the 
country.  It  is  a  solitary  bird,  inhabiting  weedy  marshes,  but 
known  by  its  peculiar  cry.  During  the  day  it  hides  among 
the  tall  grass  and  reeds,  picking  up  a  grasshopper  or  a  beetle, 
or  perchance  a  young  mouse  now  and  then.  Towards  even- 
ing it  seeks  the  water  and  partakes  of  its  regular  meal,  which 
consists  principally  of  small  frogs  and  fish. 

The  GREAT  BLUE  HERON,  the  largest  of  its  tribe  in  America, 
is  well  known  in  all  quarters.  Its  tall  and  awkward  form  is 
often  seen  on  the  borders  of  ponds  and  streams,  when  it  moves 
with  a  stealthy  tread,  on  a  combined  watch  for  'food  and 
enemies.  It  lives  principally  upon  fish  and  frogs,  but  readily 
devours  grasshoppers,  dragon-flies,  water-boatmen,  seeds,  and 
even  meadow-mice.  Small  pickerel,  which  like  to  bask  in  the 
sunshine  in  shallow  water,  are  destroyed  in  great  numbers  by 
this  heron. 

The  GREEN  HERON  is  another  widely  diffused  species.  It  is 
the  common  small  heron  found  beside  brooks  and  in  muddy 
places  at  or  near  water  margins.  Being  small,  its  diet  is  re- 
stricted to  worms,  insects  and  their  larva?,  tadpoles,  small  fish, 
and  frogs. 

The  GREAT  WHITE  E&RET  is  found  in  the  Southern  States,  but 
in  much  smaller  numbers  than  formerly.  This  egret,  in  com- 
mon with  several  smaller  species,  has  for  years  been  the  object 
of  unremitting  persecution  by  plume-hunters.  As  the  coveted 
plumes  appear  only  at  the  nuptial  season,  they  are  easily  pro- 
cured by  visiting  the  heronries  when  the  egrets  assemble  in 
great  numbers  to  breed.  One  man  has  been  known  to  kill 
several  hundred  old  birds  in  a  day,  leaving  the  young  to  starve 
and  the  dead  bodies  to  rot  after  a  few  choice  feathers  have 
been  plucked.  Egret-plumes  are  worn  by  certain  dressy  organ- 
ized bodies  of  men,  military  and  otherwise,  and  by  ladies. 
Much  has  been  said  and  written  of  late  against  wearing  feathers 
of  wild  birds,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  tide  of  popular 
sentiment  may  be  turned  against  the  practice  before  such 


238  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

unfortunately  beautiful  birds  as  the  egrets  shall  have  been 
exterminated. 

Although  there  are  a  number  of  herons  that  have  not  been 
mentioned,  a  complete  enumeration  would  add  nothing  to 
what  has  already  been  said  concerning  the  relations  of  herons 
to  the  welfare  of  man.  While  the  direct  economic  value  of 
these  graceful  and  beautiful  birds  may  not  be  very  great,  they 
add  a  charm  to  the  scenery  of  lakes  and  ponds,  the  value  of 
which  is  not  likely  to  be  over-estimated  even  by  those  keenly 
alive  to  the  beauties  of  nature.  It  is  a  pity  so  many  thought- 
less people  consider  such  birds  legitimate  prey  for  gun  and 
rifle.  They  deserve  the  fullest  protection  of  the  law  and  the 
good-will  of  all  intelligent  people. 


CHAPTER    XX. 
THE  WATER-BIRDS. 

THE   DUCKS,  GEESE,  AND  SWANS. 

THE  members  of  this  group  are  omnivorous  birds,  eating 
animals  and  vegetables  in  varying  ratios,  as  may  be  readily 
guessed  by  any  one  familiar  with  domestic  varieties.  Their 
economic  status,  however,  does  not  depend  so  much  upon 
what  they  eat  as  upon  the  quality  of  their  flesh.  Their 
feathers  have  a  value,  to  be  sure,  but  that  is  a  secondary 
consideration,  which  is  pretty  nearly  constant  throughout, 
while  the  great  variation  in  ducks  and  geese  from  a  gastro- 
nomic standpoint  is  worthy  of  particular  attention. 

The  MALLARD  DUCK  is  an  abundant  species,  except  in  New 
England,  where  it  is  rather  rare,  being  replaced  by  the  black 
or  dusky  variety.  The  common  greenheaded  domestic  duck 
is  of  mallard  stock,  though  probably  introduced  from  Europe, 
where  the  mallard  is  a  common  wild  species.  During  autumn 
the  mallards  come  into  the  United  States  in  great  numbers — 
the  majority  breeding  beyond  our  northern  limits — and  are 
much  sought  by  sportsmen.  They  weigh  from  two  to  three 
pounds  each. 

The  BLACK  DUCK,  or  DUSKY  DUCK,  is  a  favorite  in  the  Eastern 
States,  where  it  is  abundant,  breeding  in  New  England  and 
northward.  It  is  nearly  related  to  the  mallard,  which  it 
equals  in  size  and  quality.  The  TEALS,  blue-winged  and  green- 
winged,  are  two  small  ducks  well  known  through  the  country, 
except  in  New  England,  where  they  are  not  so  common  as 
elsewhere.  Being  little,  they  are  of  less  importance  than  the 
preceding,  though  they  are  quite  as  good  for  eating.  Other 
ducks  of  equal  rank  with  those  already  mentioned  are  the 
gadwall,  widgeon,  shoveller,  pintail,  and  wood-duck.  All  are 

239 


240  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

inland  birds,  feeding  upon  insects,  mollusks,  nuts,  grass,  and 
grain.  In  the  West  they  visit  the  vast  grain-fields  in  harvest- 
time  and  soon  get  in  excellent  condition  for  the  table. 

"The  WOOD-DUCK,  or  SUMMER  DUCK,"  writes  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher, 
"is  the  most  beautiful  of  all  the  members  of  the  large  and  diver- 


HEAD  OF  DUSKY  DUCK. 


sified  duck  family,  and,  on  account  of  its  beauty  and  lack 
of  shyness,  is  one  of  the  best-known  species  in  the  country. 
It  is  not  seclusive,  often  making  its  abode  near  towns,  or 
perhaps  in  the  vicinity  of  farm-houses,  where  it  may  be  found 
feeding  or  associating  with  barn-yard  ducks.  It  takes  kindly 
to  domestication,  and  is  easily  tamed  and  induced  to  breed  in 
captivity.  Its  favorite  haunts  are  small  lakes,  weedy  ponds, 
or  shady  streams  in  the  midst  of,  or  in  close  proximity  to, 
scattered  woodlands,  and,  except  during  migration,  it  is  rarely 
met  with  about  open  bays  or  large  bodies  of  water.1' 


THE   WATER-BIRDS. 


241 


This  beautiful  bird  seems  in  danger  of  extermination,  an 
event  to  be  deplored  by  every  lover  of  Nature.  Special  effort 
should  be  made  to  protect  it  in  its  nesting  sites  and  to  prevent 
its  being  shot  during  the  spring  season. 

Our  most  popular  duck  is  undoubtedly  the  CANVAS-BACK, 
famed  among  epicures  for  its  delicate  flavor,  resembling  that 
of  celery.  This  is  due  to  feeding  on  a  water-plant  known  as 
wild  celery  ( Vallisneria),  and  is  not  acquired  till  the  birds  get 
to  the  Chesapeake  region,  where  the  plants  grow  abundantly. 
Canvas-backs  from  Chesapeake  Bay  bring  a  much  higher  price 


HEAD  OF  OLD  SQUAW  DUCK. 

than  those  from  other  localities.  Except  for  its  peculiar  appe- 
tite in  the  one  instance  of  wild  celery,  the  canvas-back's  menu 
shows  no  appreciable  difference  from  that  of  the  group  just 
treated  of. 

An  associate  and  relative  of  the  canvas-back  is  the  RED-HEAD, 
another  excellent  table  bird.  In  both  size  and  color  there  is 
such  a  strong  resemblance  between  the  two  that  dishonest 
market-men  have  been  known  to  impose  on  customers,  not 
well  informed  in  ornithological  matters,  by  selling  red-heads 
for  canvas-back.  The  RING-NECK  and  the  GREATER  and  LESSER 

16 


242  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

SCAUPS  belong  to  the  same  genus  as  the  canvas-backs  and 
red-heads,  but  they  feed  more  on  mollusks  and  other  forms 
of  animal  life  and  are  less  palatable. 

The  WHISTLER,  or  GOLDEN-EYE,  OLD  SQUAW,  BUTTER-BALL,  or 
DIPPER,  and  RUDDY  DUCK  are  all  easy  divers,  which  feed  chiefly 
on  mollusks  and  similar  creatures  that  they  obtain  from  the 
bottoms  of  ponds  and  lakes.  They  are  often  eaten,  but  pos- 
sess a  fishy  flavor  that  is  not  relished  by  most  people. 

Of  the  more  distinctively  sea-ducks,  only  the  surf-ducks  and 
eiders  need  be  mentioned.  SURF-DUCKS  or  SCOTERS  of  various 
species  are  abundant  along  the  coast  from  autumn  till  spring. 


HEAD  OF  SURF  SCOTER  DUCK. 


Many  of  them  are  killed  every  year,  but  they  are  of  inferior 
quality,  having  a  rank  taste  that  comes  from  a  diet  of  shell-fish. 
The  AMERICAN  EIDER  and  KING  EIDER  are  both  arctic  species 
that  rarely  come  further  south  than  New  England.  They,  in 
common  with  other  varieties  of  eiders,  furnish  eider-down. 
This  down  is  in  great  demand  in  northern  European  countries 
for  filling  coverlets.  The  best,  known  as  live  down,  is  that 
plucked  by  the  duck  from  her  breast  to  line  her  nest,  and 
afterwards  abstracted  by  the  down-gatherer.  Greenland,  Ice- 
land, and  Norway  are  the  chief  sources  of  eider-down.  The 
following  quotation  from  Newton's  "Dictionary  of  Birds"  tells 


THE   WATER-BIRDS.  243 

how  the  down  is  obtained  in  Iceland  and  Norway,  and  inci- 
dentally carries  an  impressive  lesson  concerning  what  may  be 
accomplished  by  the  kindly  treatment  of  wild  birds.  "This 
bird  generally  frequents  low  rocky  islets  near  the  coast,  and 
in  Iceland  and  Norway  has  long  been  afforded  every  encour- 
agement and  protection,  a  fine  being  inflicted  for  killing  it 
during  the  breeding  season,  or  even  for  firing  a  gun  near  its 
haunts,  while  artificial  nesting-places  are  in  many  localities 
contrived  for  its  further  accommodation.  From  the  care  thus 
taken  of  it  in  those  countries  it  has  become  exceedingly  tame 
at  its  chief  resorts,  which  are  strictly  regarded  as  property, 
and  the  taking  of  eggs  or  down  from  them  except  by  author- 
ized persons  is  severely  punished  by  law.  .  .  .  The  nest  is 
generally  in  some  convenient  corner  among  large  stones,  hol- 
lowed in  the  soil,  and  furnished  with  a  few  bits  of  dry  grass, 
sea-weed,  or  heather.  By  the  time  that  the  full  number  of 
eggs  (which  rarely  if  ever  exceeds  five)  is  laid,  the  down  is 
added.  Generally  the  eggs  and  down  are  taken  at  intervals 
of  a  few  days  by  the  owners  of  the  eider-fold,  and  the  birds 
are  thus  kept  depositing  both  during  the  whole  season ;  but 
some  experience  is  needed  to  insure  the  greatest  profit  from 
each  commodity.  Every  duck  is  ultimately  allowed  to  hatch 
an  egg  or  two  to  keep  up  the  stock,  and  the  down  of  the  last 
nest  is  gathered  after  the  birds  have  left  the  nest." 

The  FISH-DUCKS,  or  MERGANSERS,  are  characterized  by  den- 
ticulate mandibles,  which  have  given  them  the  name  of 
saw-bills.  They  are  expert  divers,  living  chiefly  upon  fish. 
We  have  three  species,  two  of  which  are  commonly  called 
sheldrakes.  The  largest,  to  which  the  books  give  the  name 
of  goosander,  spends  the  winter  as  far  north  as  possible, 
usually  in  the  larger  rivers  which  have  a  current  swift  enough 
to  defy  frost.  They  closely  follow  the  ice  as  it  retreats  north- 
ward in  spring,  and  April  finds  them  at  their  summer  homes. 
The  red-breasted  merganser  is  the  sheldrake  that  reaches  the 
New  England  coast  about  the  first  of  May.  It  is  more  com- 


244  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

mon  than  the  goosander,  particularly  near  the  sea.  Both  of 
these  mergansers  are  good-sized  birds,  weighing  from  three  to 
four  pounds,  but  they  are  ill-flavored  and  not  generally  rel- 
ished as  food.  The  hooded  merganser  is  a  handsome  little 
duck,  bearing  a  high,  fan-like  crest  the  whole  length  of  its 
head.  It  shows  a  fondness  for  small  streams  and  ponds,  and 
eats  more  or  less  insects,  though  small  fish,  tadpoles,  etc., 
make  up  the  major  part  of  its  food. 

The  AMERICAN  WHITE-FRONTED  GOOSE,  best  known  towards 
the  Pacific  coast,  differs  little  from  the  European  white- 
fronted  species,  of  which  the  ordinary  tame  goose  is  a 
descendant.  Its  habits  and  qualities  are  similar  to  those  of 
the  domestic  bird.  Two  other  species  of  equal  worth  are  the 
SNOW-GOOSE,  common  in  the  interior,  and  the  CANADA  or  WILD 
GOOSE.  Canada  geese  have  been  crossed  with  the  domestic 
breed  with  good  results,  the  hybrid  being  considered  more 
hardy  than  the  common  stock.  The  BRANT-GOOSE  is  a  mari- 
time variety,  more  abundant  on  the  Atlantic  coast  than 
elsewhere,  though  it  is  sometimes  found  inland.  It  feeds  on 
shell-fish  and  other  marine  products,  both  animal  and  vege- 
table. Its  flesh  is  not  much  esteemed. 

The  swans  do  not  differ  materially  from  geese,  either  in 
food  or  flesh.  They  are  wary  creatures,  rare  in  the  East  and 
nowhere  abundant,  breeding  in  high  latitudes  and  appearing 
in  the  United  States  only  during  the  winter. 

The  TRUMPETER  SWAN  is  found  from  the  Mississippi  Valley 
westward,  while  the  other  species,  the  WHISTLING  SWAN,  reaches 
the  Atlantic  coast  as  far  north  as  New  Jersey.  Of  the  two 
kinds  of  swans  seen  in  captivity,  the  white  one  comes  from 
England,  where  it  has  lived  in  royal  favor  for  centuries,  and  the 
black  variety  is  brought  from  Australia,  where  it  still  exists  in 
a  wild  state. 

THE    GANNETS. 

The  gannets  are  large  marine  birds,  goose-like  in  size  and 
contour,  which  as  they  fly  seek  their  finny  victims  and  take  them 


THE   WATER-BIRDS.  245 

by  a  headlong  plunge  into  the  water  quite  out  of  sight.  They 
feed  entirely  on  fish, — herring  and  mackerel  being  preferred. 

WHITE  GANNET  are  found  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
On  the  American  side  they  breed  on  Gannet  Rock,  in  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  at  one  or  two  other  places  in  that 
region.  Like  other  gregarious  sea-fowl,  they  suffer  much  at 
the  hands  of  the  fishermen  and  are  rapidly  decreasing  in 
numbers.  After  the  breeding  season  they  follow  the  open 
sea  in  quest  of  their  favorite  quarry,  and  often  guide  the 
fishermen  to  an  abundance  of  herring  and  mackerel.  Their 
manner  of  fishing  is  as  methodical  as  the  evolutions  of  a  mili- 
tary company.  They  fly  in  single  file,  and  as  each  individual 
comes  over  a  shoal  of  fish  he  closes  his  wings  and  dashes 
down  with  unerring  aim  into  the  waves,  to  appear  again  in  a 
moment  and  take  his  place  in  line. 

Along  the  south  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coast  is  found  the  BROWN 
GANNET,  better  known  among  sailors  as  the  "booby,"  so 
named  because  it  has  in  many  instances  been  so  foolish  as 
to  alight  on  ships  at  sea  and  allow  itself  to  be  caught  by  the 
hand.  The  booby's  habits  do  not  materially  differ  from  those 
of  the  white  gannet.  A  South  American  species  known  only 
along  the  coast  of  Peru  contributes  to  the  guano  supply. 

THE    DARTER. 

The  DARTER,  or  SNAKE-BIRD,  is  a  native  of  the  Southern  States, 
ranging  in  summer  as  far  north  as  the  Carolinas  and  Illinois. 
Its  appearance  is  that  of  a  duck  with  rather  long  fan-shaped 
tail,  extremely  long  slender  neck,  small  head,  and  long  pointed 
bill.  It  is  an  expert  diver,  having  a  curious  faculty  of  being 
able  to  swim  at  any  degree  of  submergence,  from  high  floating 
to  such  a  depth  that  only  the  head  remains  in  sight,  when  its 
apparent  snakiness  is  startling.  It  feeds  on  a  great  variety  of 
fish,  frogs,  lizards,  crawfish,  leeches,  shrimps,  young  alligators, 
snakes,  terrapin,  which  it  can  overtake  under  water  like  a  true 
diver.  It  is  a  shy,  watchful  bird,  living  in  secluded  swamps. 


246  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

THE    CORMORANTS    AND    PELICANS. 

The  CORMORANTS  are  large  birds,  principally  maritime  yet 
often  straying  into  the  interior,  which  are  represented  by  dif- 
ferent species  in  every  temperate  quarter  of  the  globe.  They 
are  proverbial  fishers.  In  China  they  are  domesticated  and 
trained  to  fish  for  their  masters,  being  prevented  from  swal- 
lowing their  game  by  a  close-fitting  ring  put  about  their  necks. 
The  common  cormorant  is  found  along  the  Atlantic  coast 
down  to  the  Middle  States  in  winter.  The  double-crested 
cormorant  is  the  only  one  diffused  throughout  the  country. 
The  Mexican  cormorant  is  a  tropical  species  that  occasionally 
makes  its  way  up  the  Mississippi  Valley.  They  all  agree  in 
living  exclusively  upon  fish,  and,  as  they  are  not  sufficiently 
abundant  to  interfere  with  human  interests  in  that  line,  may 
be  regarded  as  of  no  economic  account  in  this  country. 

The  pelicans  are  large,  cumbersome  birds,  remarkable  for 
a  capacious  pouch  of  extensible  skin  between  their  lower 
jaws.  They  are  common  in  temperate  regions,  feeding 
mostly  on  fish  and  other  animals,  yet  not  averse  to  insects. 
The  WHITE  PELICAN  is  common  in  the  Southern  States,  rang- 
ing well  up  the  Mississippi  Valley.  It  feeds  by  scooping  up 
its  prey  as  it  swims  on  the  water,  letting  the  water  run  out  at 
the  sides  of  its  mouth,  and  swallowing  the  luckless  creatures 
left  within.  It  walks  readily  and  is  able  to  pick  up  more  or 
less  food  on  shore.  Five  Nebraska  birds  that  came  into  the 
hands  of  Aughey  had  fed  as  follows :  One  had  eaten  a  frog ; 
all  had  eaten  fish,  crawfish,  and  insects.  None  had  taken  less 
than  twenty-one  insects.  Forty-one  locusts  were  found  in 
one  stomach  and  forty-seven  in  another.  A  stomach  opened 
by  Audubon  was  found  to  contain  about  a  hundred  small 
worms. 

The  BROWN  PELICAN,  a  more  southerly  bird,  confined  to  the 
coast,  feeds  wholly  on  fish  taken  at  a  flying  plunge,  after  the 
manner  of  a  gannet. 


THE   WATER-BIRDS.  247 


THE    FRIGATE    BIRD    AND    THE    GULLS. 

The  FRIGATE  BIRD,  or  MAN-OF-WAR  BIRD,  is  a  maritime  species, 
having  its  four  toes  webbed  together ;  it  resembles  in  this  par- 
ticular the  gannets,  darters,  cormorants,  and  pelicans ;  indeed, 
it  has  a  double  relationship  to  the  pelicans,  by  reason  of  its 
gular  sac  or  pouch.  Having  a  comparatively  small  body,  with 
extremely  long  pointed  wings  and  a  long  forked  tail,  its  powers 
of  flight  are  astonishing.  Frigates  fish  for  themselves  when 
necessity  demands  it,  but  they  much  prefer  robbing  gulls  and 
terns  of  their  well-earned  sustenance  by  forcing  them  to  dis- 
gorge. They  are  found  on  the  south  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts. 

The  gulls  are  long-winged,  web-footed  birds,  well  equipped 
for  both  aerial  and  aquatic  navigation.  Most  of  them  are 
winter  visitors  along  the  coast,  though  many  frequent  the  great 
lakes  and  other  inland  waters.  Fishermen  watch  their  move- 
ments and  are  often  led  to  good  luck  by  them.  The  Manx 
government  protects  them  because  of  their  usefulness  as  an 
index  of  mackerel  schools.  Gulls  have  moderately  long  bills, 
somewhat  hooked  at  the  tip,  suitable  for  taking  animal  food. 
Their  diet,  however,  varies  considerably  in  different  species, 
and,  even  in  the  same  species,  more  or  less  according  to  the 
situation  and  relative  abundance  of  eatables. 

The  GREAT  BLACK-BACKED  GULL,  one  of  the  largest  of  its  kind, 
belongs  to  the  class  which  chooses  to  live  on  meat  and  fish. 
Audubon  states  that  it  devours  all  sorts  of  food  except  vege- 
tables, even  the  most  putrid  carrion,  but  prefers  fresh  fish, 
young  birds,  small  quadrupeds,  or  eggs.  A  specimen  ex- 
amined by  Professor  Aughey  had  eaten  a  few  grasshoppers 
and  other  insects,  but  mostly  fish  and  frogs.  The  HERRING 
GULL,  a  much  commoner  species,  that  is  found  both  coastwise 
and  interiorly,  has  similar  good  habits.  A  stomach  examined 
by  Dr.  Coues  contained  the  remains  of  a  marsh-hare.  Two 
which  were  examined  by  Professor  Aughey  had  grasshoppers, 
fish,  and  mollusks.  One  shot  by  us  had  eaten  only  refuse  of 


248  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

an  oily  consistency.  This  gull  breeds  from  New  England  and 
the  great  lakes  northward.  Their  eggs,  like  those  of  the  guille- 
mot, are  taken  in  great  quantities,  and  young  birds  are  salted 
and  laid  in  store  by  dwellers  in  the  far  North,  although  in  a 
land  where  food  is  plentiful  gull  flesh  is  not  relished.  The 
KITTIWAKE  GULL,  so  far  as  food  habits  go,  may  be  classed  with 
those  already  mentioned.  It  is  a  winter  visitor,  known  as  far 
south  as  the  Middle  States,  chiefly  along  the  coast.  Other 
species  range  more  or  less  over  marshes  and  high  grounds  and 
take  a  larger  proportion  of  insects.  One  of  these  is  the  RING- 
BILLED  GULL,  a  common  species  the  land  over.  Those  found 
in  the  interior  consume  many  insects.  One  stomach  opened 
by  Professor  Aughey  contained  forty  locusts  ;  four  others  had 
from  ten  to  thirty-three  insects  each.  All  had  partaken  of 
fish,  crawfish,  or  mollusks. 

BONAPARTE'S  ROSY  GULL  is  another  common  gull  interiorly 
and  coastwise,  being  especially  abundant  along  the  Atlantic 
coast  during  migration.  It  is  often  seen  coursing  over  stubble 
and  ploughed  land.  Two  stomachs  opened  by  N"uttall  were 
gorged  with  ants,  ants'  cocoons,  and  moth  pupa?.  FRANKLIN'S 
ROSY  GULL  moves  quite  across  the  United  States  in  its  migra- 
tions, its  main  route  lying  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  Of 
ten  stomachs  examined  by  Aughey,  six  had  from  thirteen  to 
fifty-three  locusts  each,  besides  a  few  other  insects  and  remains 
of  fish  and  frogs  ;  the  rest  had  from  twelve  to  thirty-nine  other 
insects,  together  with  mollusks,  snails,  fish,  crawfish,  and 
lizards. 

THE    TERNS    AND    JAEGERS. 

The  TERNS  resemble  the  gulls  in  form  and  habits,  though 
they  are  readily  distinguished  by  their  smaller  size,  their 
buoyant  airy  flight,  and  sharply  pointed  bills.  Among  those 
that  are  most  often  found  away  from  salt  water,  and  con- 
sequently the  only  ones  whose  food  relations  especially 
interest  us  in  this  connection,  are  the  least  tern,  Forster's 
tern,  the  gull-billed  or  marsh  tern,  and  the  black  tern.  The 


THE   WATER-BIRDS.  249 

least  tern  is  hardly  longer  than  a  swallow.  It  feeds  with 
equal  readiness  on  insects  and  aquatic  animals ;  beetles, 
crickets,  grasshoppers,  and  spiders  are  all  set  down  as  forming 
part  of  its  diet.  Four  stomachs  out  of  eight  examined  by  Pro- 
fessor Aughey  contained  from  twenty-three  to  forty-nine  locusts 
each.  The  others  had  from  four  to  forty-nine  other  insects 
and  remnants  of  fish,  lizards,  and  crawfish.  The  three  other 
species  have  like  records.  Several  gull-billed  terns  killed  by 
Wilson  had  eaten  nothing  but  large  aquatic  spiders.  Professor 
Aughey's  examination  of  six  black  terns  revealed  from  forty- 
seven  to  eighty-four  locusts  each  in  four,  and  from  twenty- 
eight  to  fifty-nine  insects  in  the  other  two.  There  was  the 
usual  complement  of  water  animals  in  each.  Among  the  more 
maritime  terns  are  the  royal,  sandwich,  Caspian,  roseate,  and 
sooty  terns,  and  the  noddies.  These  feed  almost  wholly  on 
small  fish  and  mollusks. 

The  more  delicately  tinted  terns  have  been  subjected  to  an 
outrageous  slaughter  for  their  skins  for  millinery  use,  to  gratify 
a  lingering  taint  of  savagery  in  woman,  a  desire  to  adorn  her- 
self with  feathers, — a  la  primitif.  Wholesome  legislation  and 
a  more  enlightened  public  opinion,  however,  are  slowly  com- 
ing to  the  rescue  of  the  disappearing  birds. 

The  BLACK  SKIMMER  is  a  peculiar  tern-like  bird,  which  has 
its  lower  mandible  about  an  inch  longer  than  the  upper.  Its 
food  consists  of  shell-fish,  shrimps,  small  crabs,  sand-fleas, 
etc.,  which  are  plowed  from  the  water  by  the  knife-like  lower 
mandible  as  the  bird  skims  along  with  lowered  head  just 
above  the  surface. 

The  JAEGERS  form  a  small  family.  They  resemble  gulls  in 
their  appearance,  and  are  chiefly  maritime,  though  sometimes 
drifting  inland ;  they  are  parasites  of  the  smaller  terns  and 
gulls.  Their  favorite  method  of  gaining  a  livelihood  is  to 
pursue  a  gull  or  tern  and  so  tire  and  pester  it  till  it  disgorges 
its  last  meal,  which  is  quickly  devoured  by  the  robber.  An 
inland  straggler  was  found  to  have  eaten  fish,  frogs,  crawfish, 


250  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

and  even  a  few  grasshoppers.  They  catch  their  food  when 
they  cannot  steal  it.  The  four  that  visit  us  are  the  skua  gull, 
the  pomarine,  parasitic,  and  long-tailed  jaegers.  None  of 
them  are  common. 

THE  PETRELS  AND  AUKS. 

The  PETRELS,  including  fulmars  and  shearwaters,  are  pelagic 
birds,  adapted  for  both  flying  and  swimming,  that  rarely  land 
except  to  lay  their  eggs.  They  will  follow  a  ship  for  days 
together,  picking  up  such  bits  of  food  as  may  be  thrown  over- 
board. The  stomachs  of  several  specimens  of  Wilson's  petrel, 
opened  by  the  naturalist  for  whom  they  were  named,  showed 
barnacles,  seeds  of  gulf- weed,  and  greasy  refuse  from  vessels. 
Leach's  petrel,  a  common  species  off  the  New  England  coast 
and  northward,  attends  fishing-vessels  for  the  sake  of  the 
waste  from  the  cleaning  tables.  Fulmars  accompany  whalers 
and  feast  upon  scraps  of  blubber.  All  petrels  are  especially 
fond  of  fatty  matter. 

The  AUKS  are  an  exclusively  marine  family  of  diving  birds 
that  feed  wholly  on  animal  substances,  such  as  small  fish, 
shrimps,  roe,  and  crustaceans.  The  puffins,  which  constitute 
one  branch  of  this  family,  exhibit  strange  nuptial  changes  in 
their  bills.  As  the  breeding  season  advances,  the  bill  increases 
in  a  vertical  direction  until  it  is  nearly  as  deep  as  the  head 
itself.  This  increase  is  caused  by  the  growth  of  additional 
flakes,  which  are  shed  with  the  feathers  during  the  moulting 
season. 

The  COMMON  PUFFIN,  or  SEA  PARROT,  is  the  only  one  to  visit 
our  eastern  coast.  Other  auks  have  seasonal  changes  of  bill, 
but  none  of  them  belong  on  the  Atlantic  coast.  The  GREAT 
AUK,  which  has  been  extinct  for  more  than  fifty  years,  was 
formerly  killed  in  great  numbers  for  its  flesh  and  feathers. 
Its  wings  were  so  small  that  flight  was  out  of  the  question, 
and,  though  able  to  take  pretty  good  care  of  itself  in  the  water, 
when  on  land  it  was  at  the  mercy  of  any  foe  larger  and  more 


THE   WATER-BIRDS.  251 

powerful  than  itself.  The  early  fishermen  sought  great  auks 
on  the  barren  northern  islands  in  nesting  time,  slaughtered 
them  right  and  left  with  clubs,  and  salted  their  flesh.  This 
ruthless  destruction  could  have  but  one  result.  Only  a  few 
skins,  eggs,  and  bones  in  museums  remain  as  tangible  evi- 
dences of  this  once  abundant  bird. 

Another  branch  of  the  auk  family,  including  several  species 
which  have  been  and  still  are  to  some  extent  severely  perse- 
cuted, comprises  the  GUILLEMOTS,  or  egg-birds.  In  this  case 
it  is  not  the  birds  themselves  so  much  as  their  eggs  that 
attract  marauders.  Each  spring  the  guillemots  congregate  by 
thousands  on  certain  rocky  islands  and  shores  to  deposit  their 
eggs.  In  such  vast  numbers  do  they  come  that  they  fairly 
cover  the  ground  while  incubating.  The  eggs  are  quite  pala- 
table while  fresh,  but  most  of  them  are  sold  for  use  in  the 
arts,  the  albumen  they  contain  being  a  requisite  in  several 
industries,  such  as  the  manufacture  of  patent  leather  and  in 
clarifying  wine.  Gathering  the  eggs  of  this  and  other  sea- 
birds  was  formerly  a  fixed  occupation  for  a  class  of  rough 
characters  known  as  eggers,  who  regularly  plied  their  trade 
while  the  season  lasted.  In  order  to  insure  fresh  eggs,  they 
would  first  break  every  egg  on  the  ground,  then  come  daily 
afterwards  for  their  harvest.  An  easy  way  to  smash  the  eggs, 
and  one  often  followed,  was  to  roll  barrels  back  and  forth 
over  the  whole  nesting-place.  Egging  was  carried  on  so  per- 
sistently that  the  number  of  birds  became  seriously  decreased, 
and  our  Eastern  States  as  well  as  the  Canadian  government 
have  prohibited  it. 

The  following  extract  from  Audubon's  "Eggers  of  Labrador" 
presents  a  vivid  picture  of  the  people  and  their  business  as  he 
saw  them  there.  "The  vessel  herself  is  a  shabby  thing:  her 
sails  are  patched;  her  sides  are  neither  painted  nor  even 
pitched;  no,  they  are  daubed  over,  plastered  and  patched 
with  strips  of  seal-skin  along  the  seams.  Her  deck  has  never 
been  washed  or  sanded ;  her  hold — no  cabin  has  she — though 


252  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

at  present  empty  sends  forth  an  odor  pestilential  as  a  charnel- 
house.  The  crew,  eight  in  number,  lie  sleeping  at  the  foot 
of  their  tottering  mast,  regardless  of  the  repairs  needed  in 
every  part  of  her  rigging.  .  .  .  As  I  suspect  her  crew  to  be 
bent  on  the  commission  of  some  evil  deed,  let  us  follow  her 
to  the  first  harbor.  The  afternoon  is  half  over.  Her  crew 
have  thrown  their  boat  overboard ;  they  enter  and  seat  them- 
selves, each  with  a  rusty  gun.  One  of  them  sculls  the  skiff 
towards  an  island  for  a  century  past  the  breeding-place  of 
myriads  of  guillemots,  which  are  now  to  be  laid  under  contri- 
bution. At  the  approach  of  the  vile  thieves,  clouds  of  birds 
rise  from  the  rock  and  fill  the  air  around,  wheeling  and 
screaming  over  their  enemies.  Yet  thousands  remain  in  an 
erect  posture,  each  covering  its  single  egg,  the  hope  of  both 
parents.  The  reports  of  several  muskets  loaded  with  heavy 
shot  are  now  heard,  while  several  dead  and  wounded  birds 
fall  heavily  on  the  rock  or  into  the  water.  Instantly  all  the 
sitting  birds  rise  and  fly  off  affrighted  to  their  companions 
above,  and  hover  in  dismay  over  their  assassins.  .  .  .  See 
how  they  crush  the  chick  within  its  shell,  how  they  trample 
over  every  egg  in  their  way  with  their  huge  and  clumsy  boots. 
Onward  they  go,  and  when  they  leave  the  isle  not  an  egg  that 
they  can  find  is  left  entire.  The  dead  birds  they  collect  and 
carry  to  their  boat.  Now  they  have  regained  their  filthy 
shallop  ;  they  strip  the  birds  by  a  single  jerk  of  their  feathery 
apparel,  while  the  flesh  is  yet  warm,  and  throw  them  on 
some  coals,  where  in  a  short  time  they  are  broiled.  The  rum 
is  produced  when  the  guillemots  are  fit  for  eating,  and  after 
enjoying  themselves  with  this  oily  fare,  and  enjoying  the 
pleasure  of  this  beastly  intoxication,  over  they  tumble  on  the 
deck  of  their  crazed  craft,  where  they  pass  the  short  hours 
of  night  in  turbid  slumbers.  .  .  .  On  Guillemot  Isle  the  birds 
have  again  settled  and  now  renew  their  loves.  Startled  by 
the  light  of  day,  one  of  the  eggers  springs  to  his  feet  and 
arouses  his  companions.  .  .  .  The  master,  soon  recollecting 


THE  WATER-BIRDS.  253 

that  so  many  eggs  are  worth  a  dollar  or  a  crown,  casts  his 
eye  towards  the  rock,  marks  the  day  in  his  memory,  and  gives 
orders  to  depart.  The  light  breeze  enables  them  to  reach 
another  harbor  a  few  miles  distant,  in  which,  like  the  last, 
lies  concealed  from  the  ocean  some  other  rocky  isle.  Arriving 
there  they  reenact  the  scene  of  yesterday,  crushing  every  egg 
they  can  find.  For  a  week,  each  night  is  passed  in  drunken- 
ness and  brawls,  until,  having  reached  the  last  breeding-place 
on  the  coast,  they  return,  touch  at  every  isle  in  succession, 
shoot  as  many  birds  as  they  may  need,  collect  the  fre'sh  eggs, 
and  lay  in  a  cargo.1' 

THE    LOONS   AND    GREBES. 

The  LOONS  are  large,  powerful  divers,  that  are  equally  at 
home  in  fresh  and  salt  water.  Owing  to  their  wariness,  and 
also  to  the  fact  that  they  cannot  fly  without  a  long  course  in 
which  to  get  a  good  start  before  leaving  the  water,  they  are 
not  usually  found  in  the  smaller  streams  and  ponds.  Except 
during  the  period  of  incubation  they  rarely  venture  ashore. 
They  feed  almost  wholly  upon  fish,  which  they  dive  for  and 
pursue  with  great  energy.  In  the  economical  balance  they 
have  little  weight  either  way.  The  fish  they  consume  are 
generally  worthless,  while  their  own  flesh  is  hardly  better. 
The  common  loon  is  a  picturesque  element  in  the  scenery 
of  our  northern  lakes  in  summer.  In  winter  it  may  be  found 
in  the  sea  or  wherever  there  is  plenty  of  open  water.  The 
red-throated  loon  is  a  more  northerly  bird  that  breeds  entirely 
beyond  our  limits,  but  is  found  fairly  common  out  of  breeding 
season.  The  black-throated  loon  is  an  arctic  species  rarely 
appearing  in  the  United  States. 

The  GREBES  constitute  a  branch  of  the  diver  family.  Their 
chief  peculiarities  are  wide,  flat,  unwebbed  toes  and  an  entire 
lack  of  tail.  They  are  essentially  fresh-water  birds,  designed, 
like  divers  in  general,  to  glean  a  livelihood  in  the  liquid  ele- 
ment. Small  fish,  lizards,  tadpoles,  and  aquatic  insects,  with 


254  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

now  and  then  a  blade  of  grass  or  a  few  seeds,  constitute  their 
usual  diet.  Inasmuch  as  they  are  unable  to  travel  on  land 
with  any  ease,  owing  to  the  rearward  position  of  their  legs, 
only  such  insects  as  belong  to  the  water  or  accidentally  fall 
into  it  are  eaten.  Of  the  four  varieties  common  to  the  eastern 
half  of  the  United  States,  the  little  DABCHICK,  or  PIED-BILLED 
GREBE,  is  perhaps  the  best  known.  Its  bill  is  shorter  and 
thicker,  than  the  bills  of  other  kinds,  and  it  may  readily  be 
guessed  that  its  food  is  not  so  strictly  of  an  animal  nature. 
A  single  stomach  examined  by  us  contained  the  broken  wing- 
covers  of  many  beetles,  a  few  feathers,  evidently  from  its  own 
breast,  and  considerable  sand.  The  other  three  species  have 
spear-like  bills  and  have  practically  identical  food  habits. 
They  are  the  RED-NECKED  GREBE,  the  HORNED  GREBE,  and  the 
EARED  GREBE.  The  first  two  are  found  at  large  throughout 
the  country.  The  eared  grebe  belongs  west  of  the  Mississippi 
River.  Of  two  stomachs  of  the  last  named  opened  by  Pro- 
fessor Aughey,  of  Nebraska,  one  contained  nine  locusts,  some 
grass,  a  few  seeds,  and  the  remains  of  crawfish ;  while  the 
other  had  five  grasshoppers,  a  few  other  insects,  fish,  and 
crawfish.  None  of  the  grebes  are  much  esteemed  as  food, 
being  rather  coarse  and  rank-flavored. 

Both  loons  and  grebes  are  levied  upon  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  fashion,  the  breast  portions  of  their  skins  being 
prized  by  milliners. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS. 

I.    NON-GAMEBIRDS THEIR    DESTRUCTION,    PROTECTION,    AND 

ENCOURAGEMENT. 

ACCORDING  to  the  latest  classification,  there  are  eleven  hun- 
dred and  twenty-four  species  of  birds  inhabiting  America 
north  of  Mexico.  They  are  included  in  seventeen  orders. 
For  our  present  purpose  we  will  divide  them  into  two  classes, 
— namely,  gamebirds  and  non-gamebirds.  The  gamebirds, 
comprising  only  five  orders,  amounting  to  two  hundred  and 
twenty-two  species,  will  be  considered  in  the  next  chapter. 
The  nine  hundred  and  two  species  and  subspecies  in  the 
twelve  orders  of  non-gamebirds  are  of  all  sizes  and  of  a  wide 
variety  of  habits.  While  of  little  or  no  use  as  food,  and 
generally  recognized  as  important  aids  in  keeping  insects 
within  supportable  limits, — or,  in  case  of  birds  that  prefer 
other  food  than  insects,  either  beneficial  or  at  least  harmless, 
— they  have  too  often  been  slaughtered  and  otherwise  per- 
secuted. 

It  seems  a  well-established  fact  that  birds,  as  a  class,  are 
now  less  numerous  in  the  United  States  than  they  were  a 
century  or  more  ago.  While  some  species  have  doubtless 
become  more  abundant  under  the  changed  conditions  of 
modern  civilization,  others  are  very  much  rarer,  and  a  few 
appear  to  be  approaching  extinction.  It  was,  of  course, 
inevitable  that  the  changes  produced  by  man's  interference 
with  natural  conditions  should  have  a  tremendous  influence 
upon  the  native  fauna.  Some  birds  have  found  the  new  dis- 
pensation better  suited  to  their  wants  than  the  old ;  others 
have  changed  their  habits  and  made  the  best  of  it;  while 
others  have  been  so  relentlessly  persecuted  that  their  only 

265 


256  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

hope  of  survival  lay  in  retreating  to  inaccessible  localities. 
The  wholesale  destruction  of  primeval  nesting-sites  has  been 
a  potent  factor  in  the  change  produced,  but,  fortunately,  many 
of  the  most  useful  birds  found  substitutes  that  answered  the 
purpose  very  well :  kingbirds,  chipping-sparrows,  cedar-birds, 
and  robins  have  apparently  been  glad  to  adopt  the  imported 
apple  tree  for  a  home  tree ;  swallows,  swifts,  and  phoabes 
have  left  the  cliffs  and  hollow  trees  they  formerly  possessed 
for  rafters  and  chimneys  and  artificial  houses  put  up  for  their 
benefit.  Meadow-larks,  vesper,  savanna,  and  other  "ground" 
sparrows  inhabiting  grass-lands  have  undoubtedly  increased 
in  numbers  and  widened  their  habitat  since  mowing  fields 
have  so  largely  superseded  timbered  areas. 

Even  under  normal  conditions  birds  have  to  encounter 
grave  perils  that  many  of  them,  particularly  of  the  smaller 
varieties,  are  unable  to  withstand.  Of  these  their  annual 
migration  over  hundreds  and  thousands  of  miles  of  land  and 
sea  probably  is  most  fatal.  Their  periods  of  travel  are  sea- 
sons of  strenuous  weather.  Gales  carry  them  out  to  sea  and 
leave  them  exhausted  to  perish  on  the  waves.  Unwonted 
cold  in  the  South  sometimes  destroys  them  in  great  numbers. 
A  backward  spring  in  the  North,  by  retarding  insect  develop- 
ment, adds  hunger  to  cold.  At  the  end  of  the  long  journey, 
tired  and  lean,  the  birds  suffer  greatly  when  spring  is  late. 
Warblers,  orioles,  tanagers,  and  other  sylvan  species  may  be 
seen  searching  among  the  stubble  for  something  to  eat.  Their 
feebleness  is  apparent.  Sometimes  a  cold  storm  follows,  and 
when  such  is  the  case  many  invariably  die.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  during  such  a  stress  of  weather  many  birds  that 
ordinarily  frequent  the  woods  come  to  the  vicinity  of  houses. 
A  parula  warbler  has  been  known  to  seek  refuge  in  a  store 
doorway,  a  humming-bird  to  crawl  into  a  crevice  in  a  garden 
gate,  and  redstarts  and  a  Canadian  warbler  to  find  shelter  in 
a  barnyard.  Birds  found  dead  after  such  a  storm  are  greatly 
emaciated,  showing  plainly  the  effects  of  starvation.  Well  fed, 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  257 

they  could  stand  the  weather,  but  hunger  and  cold  combined 
they  could  not  endure. 

Young  birds  are  subject  to  many  dangers  before  reaching 
maturity.  Foxes,  cats,  skunks,  minks,  weasels,  squirrels, 
hawks,  owls,  crows,  jays,  and  snakes  are  always  seeking  to 
devour  them.  The  percentage  of  young  birds  preyed  upon 
by  predaceous  animals  is  certainly  quite  large.  Heavy  rains 
destroy  many  more.  Adult  birds  also  fall  victims  to  preda- 
ceous animals,  particularly  hawks  and  owls,  though  less  often 
than  the  young. 

Light-houses,  situated  as  they  are  in  a  main  thoroughfare  of 
migration,  cause  the  death  of  many  birds.  Most  birds  fly  by 
night,  and,  coming  into  a  beam  of  light,  they  follow  it  to  their 
destruction.  Telegraph  and  telephone  wires  are  another  dan- 
ger. Fortunately,  many  birds  that  hit  them  are  not  killed, 
so  they  are  able  to  profit  by  experience.  A  western  writer 
has  noted  that  in  a  certain  locality  the  number  killed  during 
the  first  few  years  after  the  wires  were  put  up  was  much 
larger  than  the  number  killed  in  later  years. 

But  besides  these  natural  causes  and  the  inevitable  results 
of  the  white  man's  occupation  of  the  American  continent, 
certain  causes  have  been,  and  still  are,  at  work  which  tend 
greatly  to  decrease  the  number  of  birds  possible  under  exist- 
ing conditions.  To  a  large  extent  these  agencies  are  the  result 
of  human  greed,  cruelty,  and  ignorance,  and  the  havoc  they 
commit  may  be  avoided  by  proper  laws  based  upon  and  sup- 
ported by  the  opinion  of  an  enlightened  public. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  constant  and  serious  of  these 
agencies  is  the  egg-collecting  or  nest-destroying  small  boy. 
In  almost  every  town  or  village  there  may  be  found  a  dozen 
or  more  youths  who  have  frequent  attacks  of  the  collecting 
fever.  Unfortunately,  the  fever  is  often  of  the  intermittent  type, 
and  the  season's  collections  are  allowed  to  go  to  ruin  before 
the  advent  of  another  spring.  Every  nook  and  cranny  for 
miles  around  the  head-quarters  of  such  a  coterie  is  examined 

17 


258  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

by  sharp  eyes,  and  the  great  majority  of  birds'  eggs  are  gath- 
ered in.  Probably  with  ninety-nine  boys  out  of  a  hundred 
these  egg  collections  are  soon  forgotten,  while  the  hundredth 
boy  is  too  likely  to  become  a  mere  collector  who  strives  to  see 
how  many  varieties  of  eggs  he  can  get  together  without  refer- 
ence to  their  natural  history  values.  To  this  class  of  collec- 
tors we  owe  the  existence  of  the  egg-dealers  who  collect  eggs 
in  large  numbers  to  sell.  The  latter  are  the  mercenary  collec- 
tors, while  the  intermittent  types  are  the  aimless  ones, — a 
classification  suggested  by  Col.  W.  H.  M.  Duthie,  a  Scottish 
ornithologist,  who  well  defines  the  utrue  collector"  as  "a  nat- 
uralist acquainting  himself  with  birds,  their  habits,  flight, 
migration,  and  breeding  haunts ;  his  egg-collecting  being  only 
one  of  the  means  of  acquiring  knowledge." 

Birds'  eggs  are  sometimes  collected  by  children  to  serve  as 
Easter  gifts  the  following  season, — a  sacrilege  to  which  atten- 
tion need  scarcely  be  called  to  reveal  its  inappropriateness. 
Such  an  Easter  present  is  a  sacrifice  of  innocence  rather  than 
a  thank-offering. 

Unfortunately,  the  boy  of  the  period  does  not  limit  his 
destructive  powers  to  the  gathering  of  eggs.  The  recent 
increase  in  cheap  fire-arms  has  placed  within  his  reach  the 
means  of  killing  feathered  u  game"  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 
To  this  fact  is  due  much  of  the  diminution  in  the  number  of 
small  birds  in  the  vicinity  of  towns  and  cities.  Dr.  R.  W. 
Shufeldt  thinks  that  the  wholesale  destruction  carried  on  by 
the  army  of  unscrupulous  small  boys  "is  a  reason  for  bird 
decrease  before  which  other  reasons  stand  aghast."  He 
reports  meeting  near  Washington,  D.  C.,  "  one  such  youngster, 
and  upon  examining  his  game-bag,  found  it  absolutely  full  of 
dead  bodies  of  birds  which  he  had  killed  since  starting  out  in 
the  morning.  One  item  alone  consisted  of  seventy-two  ruby 
and  golden-crowned  kinglets.  The  fellow  boasted  of  having 
slain  over  one  hundred  cat-birds  that  season." 

That  the  small  boy  is  recognized  in  other  countries  as  a 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  259 

prime  factor  in  decrease  in  birds  is  shown  by  the  recent  rec- 
ommendation of  a  committee  of  the  British  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science  that  particular  pains  should  be 
taken  to  instruct  the  youth  concerning  the  birds  that  should 
be  protected. 

Enormous  numbers  of  birds  are  sacrificed  annually  for 
millinery  purposes.  There  is  an  opinion  prevalent  that  the 
birds  worn  on  women's  hats  in  America  are  largely  derived 
from  the  faunas  of  tropical  regions.  Some  justification  of  this 
is  found  in  the  impossible  colors  of  all  sorts  assumed  by  the 
plainest  songsters  when  they  have  passed  through  the  dye-pot 
of  the  preparator.  But  there  can  be  no  question  that  an 
immense  quantity  of  bird  life  is  annually  destroyed  in  the 
United  States  to  gratify  the  caprice  of  fashion,  the  birds  thus 
killed  being  very  largely  used  within  our  own  borders,  while 
many  are  exported  to  Paris  and  other  European  cities.  The 
evidence  on  this  point  is  abundantly  sufficient ;  some  of  it  may 
properly  be  introduced  here,  as  the  subject  is  one  which  is 
greatly  in  need  of  more  general  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the 
public. 

An  editorial  article  in  the  Forest  and  Stream  a  few  years  ago 
mentions  a  dealer  who,  during  a  three  months1  trip  to  the 
coast  of  South  Carolina,  prepared  no  less  than  eleven  thousand 
and  eighteen  bird-skins.  A  considerable  number  of  the  birds 
killed  were,  of  course,  too  much  mutilated  for  preparation,  so 
that  the  total  number  of  slain  would  be  much  greater  than 
the  number  given.  The  person  referred  to  states  that  he 
handles  on  an  average  thirty  thousand  bird-skins  a  year,  of 
which  the  greater  part  are  cut  up  for  millinery  purposes. 
About  the  same  time,  according  to  a  writer  in  the  Baltimore 
Sun,  a  New  York  milliner  visited  Cobb's  Island,  off  the  coast 
of  Virginia,  to  get  material  to  fill  a  foreign  order  for  forty  thou- 
sand bird-skins.  She  hired  people  to  kill  the  birds,  for  which 
she  paid  ten  cents  apiece.  The  birds  comprised  in  this  whole- 
sale slaughter  were  mainly  gulls  and  terns,  or  sea-swallows, 


260  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

of  which  large  numbers  of  several  species  could  formerly  be 
found  on  this  island.  But  now  only  a  few  of  these  graceful 
birds  remain,  and  the  pot-hunters,  or  rather  skin-hunters, 
have  to  go  some  distance  to  carry  on  their  cruel  occupation. 
If  we  consider  that  with  each  old  bird  killed — the  killing  is 
done  mainly  in  the  breeding  season,  as  only  adult  birds  have 
suitable  plumage — many  young,  unable  to  care  for  themselves, 
die  of  starvation,  this  wholesale  slaughter  appears  the  more 
infamous  and  criminal. 

Further  south,  in  Florida  and  along  the  Gulf  coast,  the 
herons  and  egrets  have  been  ruthlessly  persecuted  for  their 
plumage.  The  heronries,  where  enormous  numbers  of  these 
graceful  birds  formerly  bred  unmolested,  have  been  largely 
broken  up,  and  only  the  shyness  of  those  remaining  enables 
them  to  survive.  In  a  paper  read  before  the  World's  Congress 
of  Ornithologists,  at  Chicago,  in  1893,  Mr.  T.  Gilbert  Pearson 
describes  a  visit  to  a  locality  known  as  Horse  Hummock, 
Florida.  In  1888  he  found  several  hundred  pairs  of  little 
blue,  snowy,  Louisiana,  and  black-crowned  night-herons  at  a 
heronry  there.  Three  years  later,  when  he  returned  to  the 
spot,  silence  reigned,  and  only  fragments  of  nests  and  bleaching 
bones  were  to  be  seen.  Plume-hunters  had  either  killed  or 
driven  off  the  entire  community.  Concerning  another  heronry 
Mr.  Pearson  writes  as  follows  :  "  A  few  miles  north  of  Waldo, 
in  the  flat  pine  region,  our  party  came  one  day  upon  a  little 
swamp  where  we  had  been  told  herons  bred  in  numbers. 
Upon  approaching  the'  place  the  screams  of  young  birds 
reached  our  ears.  The  cause  of  this  soon  became  apparent 
by  the  buzzing  of  green  flies  and  the  heaps  of  dead  herons 
festering  in  the  sun,  the  back  of  each  bird  raw  and  bleeding. 
The  smouldering  embers  of  a  camp-fire  bore  witness  to  the 
recent  presence  of  the  plume-hunter.  Under  a  bunch  of 
grass  a  dead  heron  was  discovered  from  whose  back  the 
plumes  had  not  been  taken.  The  ground  was  still  rnoist  with 
its  blood,  showing  that  death  had  not  long  before  taken  place. 


THE   CONSERVATION    OF   BIRDS.  261 

The  dirt  had  been  beaten  smooth  with  its  wings  ;  its  neck  was 
arched ;  feathers  on  its  head  were  raised,  and  its  bill  was 
buried  in  the  blood-clotted  feathers  of  its  breast,  where  a  gap- 
ping wound  showed  that  a  leaden  missile  struck.  It  was  an 
awful  picture  of  pain.  Sorely  wounded,  this  heron  had  crawled 
away  and,  after  enduring  hours  of  agony,  had  died,  the  victim 
of  a  foolish  fashion.  Young  herons  had  been  left  by  scores 
in  the  nests  to  perish  from  exposure  and  starvation.  These 
little  sufferers,  too  weak  to  rise,  reached  their  heads  over  the 
nests  and  faintly  called  for  food,  which  the  dead  mothers  could 
never  bring." 

This  slaughter  of  the  innocents  is  by  no  means  confined  to 
our  Southern  States.  During  four  months  seventy  thousand 
bird-skins  were  supplied  to  the  New  York  trade  by  one  Long 
Island  village.  "  On  the  coast-line  of  Long  Island,"  wrote 
Mr.  William  Butcher,  not  long  ago,  "  the  slaughter  has  been 
carried  on  to  such  a  degree  that,  where,  a  few  years  since, 
thousands  and  thousands  of  terns  were  gracefully  sailing  over 
the  surf-beaten  shore  and  the  wind-rippled  bays,  now  one  is 
rarely  to  be  seen."  Land-birds  of  all  sorts  have  also  suffered 
in  a  similar  way,  both  on  Long  Island  and  in  adjacent  locali- 
ties in  New  Jersey.  Nor  have  the  interior  regions  of  the 
United  States  escaped  the  visits  of  the  milliner's  agent.  An 
Indianapolis  taxidermist  is  on  record  with  the  statement  that 
in  1895  there  were  shipped  from  that  city  five  thousand  bird- 
skins  collected  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  He  adds  that  uno  county 
in  the  State  is  free  from  the  ornithological  murderer,"  and 
prophesies  that  birds  will  soon  become  very  scarce  in  the 
State. 

These  isolated  examples  can  only  suggest  the  enormous 
number  of  birds  that  are  sacrificed  on  the  altar  of  fashion. 
The  universal  use  of  birds  for  millinery  purposes  bears  suffi- 
cient testimony  to  the  fact.  Yet  it  is  probable  that  most 
women  who  follow  the  fashion  seldom  appreciate  the  suffer- 
ing and  the  economic  losses  which  it  involves. 


262  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

A  few  years  ago  the  Committee  on  Bird  Protection  of  the 
American  Ornithologist's  Union  issued  an  appeal  in  which 
occurs  this  paragraph : 

"  So  long  as  the  demand  continues,  the  supply  will  come. 
Law  of  itself  can  be  of  little,  perhaps  of  no  ultimate  avail. 
It  may  give  check,  but  this  tide  of  destruction  it  is  powerless 
to  stay.  The  demand  will  be  met ;  the  offenders  will  find  it 
worth  while  to  dare  the  law.  Only  one  thing  will  stop  the 
cruelty, — the  disapprobation  of  fashion.  It  is  our  women 
who  hold  the  great  power.  Let  our  women  say  the  word, 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  birds'  lives  will  be  preserved 
every  year.  And  until  woman  does  use  her  influence  it  is 
vain  to  hope  that  this  nameless  sacrifice  will  cease  until  it  has 
worked  out  its  own  end  and  the  birds  are  gone." 

The  destruction  of  the  smaller  birds  for  food  is  much 
greater  than  is  commonly  supposed.  It  is  due  not  so  much 
to  the  demand  created  by  native  white  Americans,  as  by  the 
foreigners  in  the  North  and  negroes  in  the  South.  During  the 
migrations  to  and  from  the  southern  regions,  enormous  num- 
bers of  birds  which  are  commonly  considered  non-edible  are 
killed  for  food.  In  the  larger  cities  hundreds  of  such  victims 
are  displayed  daily.  Besides  the  reed-birds,  robins,  meadow- 
larks,  and  blackbirds  that  one  would  expect  might  be  found, 
there  occur  woodpeckers,  thrushes,  sparrows,  warblers,  wax- 
wings,  and  vireos.  An  interesting  example  has  been  reported 
by  Mr.  Walter  E.  Bryant  in  the  case  of  the  u  reed-birds"  of 
San  Francisco  markets.  For  years  there  have  been  exposed 
for  sale  small  California  birds,  picked,  and  six  of  them  ranged 
side  by  side  with  a  skewer  running  through  them.  These  are 
sold  as  "reed-birds,"  though,  of  course,  they  are  not  the 
Eastern  bobolink,  which  does  not  occur  in  California.  They 
are  most  commonly  the  horned  lark  (Ofocom),  but  there  may 
often  be  found  on  the  skewers  housefmches,  goldfinches, 
various  sparrows  (except  the  English  variety),  blackbirds,  and 
sand-pipers.  Many  thousands  of  birds  are  thus  destroyed 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  263 

annually.  The  tendency,  as  Mr.  Bryant  says,  is  steadily  uto 
increase  in  severity,  and  it  has  long  since  arrived  at  that  stage 
of  importance  which  should  bring  it  to  the  notice  of  the  au- 
thorities interested  in  bird  protection.1' 

In  the  South  all  sorts  of  small  birds  appear  in  the  city 
markets.  In  a  statement  concerning  the  destruction  of  small 
birds  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Orleans,  Professor  Nehrling  says : 
"  There  is  scarcely  a  hotel  in  New  Orleans  where  small  birds 
do  not  form  an  item  on  the  bill  of  fare.  At  certain  seasons 
the  robin,  wood-thrush,  thrasher,  olive-backed  thrush,  hermit- 
thrush,  chewink,  flicker,  and  many  of  our  beautiful  sparrows 
form  the  bulk  of  the  victims ;  but  cat-birds,  cardinals,  and 
almost  all  small  birds,  even  swallows,  can  be  found  in  the 
markets.1' x 

A  few  small  birds  have  ranked  as  game  more  or  less  gener- 
ally. Of  these  the  bobolink  is  one.  Although  one  of  the 
best-beloved  birds  in  the  North,  where  it  is  given  all  the  pro- 
tection accorded  to  any  bird,  in  the  Middle  States  it  is  killed 
in  enormous  numbers  during  the  autumnal  migration.  To 
one  familiar  with  the  bobolink's  liquid  melody  and  parental 
devotion  such  slaughter  seems  a  sacrilege.  In  the  rice-grow- 
ing regions  along  the  Carolina  coast,  bobolinks  are  veritable 
pests  and  as  such  are  destroyed.  Robins  are  also  killed  in 
the  Southern  States  during  the  winter.  A  notorious  example 
of  robin  slaughter  is  that  of  a  consignment  of  twenty-seven 
hundred  in  one  lot  received  by  a  Washington,  D.  C.,  dealer  in 
the  spring  of  1897.  During  their  stay  in  the  South  they 
occupy  regular  "  roosts,"  where  they  assemble  at  nightfall  by 
thousands,  and  it  is  at  these  "roosts"  that  most  of  the 
slaughter  is  accomplished. 

Flickers,  meadow-larks,  and  blackbirds  have  been  quite 
generally  slain  the  country  over,  especially  by  those  unable  to 
kill  anything  bigger;  but  among  true  sportsmen  they  have 

1  See  W.  T.  Hornaday,  2d  Ann.  Rept.  N.  Y.  Zool.  Soc.,  p.  86,  1898. 


264  BIRDS  IN  THEIR   RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

been  put  on  the  "retired  list."  Nevada  is  the  only  State 
in  which  flickers  are  legally  reckoned  among  game-birds. 
Larks  are  so  classed  in  less  than  half  a  dozen  States.  Event- 
ually all  birds  of  this  sort,  with  the  exception  of  bobolinks 
and  blackbirds  in  certain  localities  where  they  are  noxious, 
will  be  struck  from  the  game  list  in  practice  as  well  as  in 
theory. 

The  segregating  habit  of  sea-birds  at  certain  breeding  places, 
so  advantageous  to  plume-hunters,  is  not  less  so  to  "eggers," 
nor  less  fatal  to  the  birds.  Audubon,  in  his  Ornithological 
Biography,  devotes  a  chapter  to  "eggers,"  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact  on  his  Labrador  exploration.  Their  ruthless 
invasion  of  the  barren  islands  inhabited  by  countless  murres 
and  gulls,  resulting  in  the  loss  of  every  egg  that  could  be  dis- 
covered, all  summer  long,  evidently  aroused  the  displeasure 
of  the  great  naturalist. 

Even  down  to  a  few  years  ago,  when  Dominion  laws  put 
a  stop  to  it,  egging  was  continued  on  the  islands  off  New 
Brunswick  and  northward.  The  eggs  were  brought  off  by 
boat-loads  and  sold  for  various  purposes.  Wherever  colonies 
of  sea-birds  assemble  to  breed  along  our  Eastern  coast,  the 
practice  of  turning  the  eggs  to  commercial  use  has  been  in 
vogue.  The  eggs  of  the  laughing  gull  (Larus  atricille)  are  an 
esteemed  delicacy  in  Virginia.  The  gulls,  terns,  and  herons, 
which  formerly  bred  in  immense  numbers  along  the  coasts  of 
Florida  and  Texas,  have  been  subject  to  the  same  blasting 
influence.  An  article  *  by  Mr.  H.  W.  Elliott  gives  an  idea  of 
the  abundance  of  eggs  and  the  wholesale  manner  in  which 
they  have  been  gathered  in  the  Pacific.  Mr.  Elliott  states 
that  when  he  visited  Walrus  Island,  in  Behring  Sea,  in  July, 
1872,  six  men  loaded  a  four-ton  boat  with  murre  eggs  in  less 
than  six  hours.  Concerning  egging  in  California,  Dr.  T.  S. 
Palmer  writes:2  UA  still  more  striking  example  of  wholesale 

1  The  Auk,  vol.  v.  p.  377. 

2  Yearbook,  Dept.  of  Agr.  for  1899,  p.  271. 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  265 

egg-collecting,  and  probably  the  most  important  one  in  the 
United  States,  from  a  financial  stand-point,  is  that  of  the  Faral- 
lones.  These  islands,  or  rather  rocks,  situated  on  the  coast  of 
California,  thirty  miles  west  of  the  Golden  Gate,  are  the  breed- 
ing-grounds of  myriads  of  sea-birds,  chiefly  western  gulls 
(Larus  ocddentalis)  and  murres,  or  California  guillemots  ( Una 
troile  Calif ornica).  For  nearly  fifty  years  murre  eggs  were 
collected  here  and  shipped  to  San  Francisco  market,  where 
they  found  a  ready  sale  at  from  twelve  to  twenty  cents  a 
dozen,  a  price  only  a  little  less  than  that  of  hens1  eggs.  During 
the  season,  which  lasted  about  two  months,  beginning  near 
the  middle  of  May,  the  eggs  were  shipped  regularly  once  or 
twice  a  week.  The  main  crop  was  gathered  on  South  Faral- 
lone,  the  principal  island,  and  mainly  from  the  '  great 
rookery1  at  the  west  end.  The  birds  lay  only  one  egg, 
which  is  deposited  on  the  bare  rock.  When  the  season 
opened  the  men  went  over  the  ground  and  broke  all  the  eggs 
in  sight,  so  as  to  avoid  taking  any  that  were  not  perfectly 
fresh.  The  ground  was  then  gone  over  every  day,  and  the 
eggs  were  systematically  picked  up  and  shipped  to  market. 
The  business  was  in  the  hands  of  Italians  and  Greeks,  who 
were  also  engaged  in  fishing,  and,  although  a  dozen  or  fifteen 
'  eggers1  were  employed  on  the  islands,  the  number  of  eggs 
gathered  was  simply  enormous.  It  is  said  that  in  1854  more 
than  five  hundred  thousand  eggs  were  sold  in  less  than  two 
months,  and  that  between  1850  and  1856  three  or  four  mill- 
ions were  taken  to  San  Francisco.  .  .  .  Since  then  the  value 
of  the  eggs  has  declined,  and  the  number  has  fallen  off  con- 
siderably. In  1884  there  were  gathered  three  hundred  thou- 
sand, in  1896  about  one  hundred  and  eight  thousand,  while 
in  1896  the  crop  was  reduced  to  a  little  less  than  ninety-two 
thousand.11 

As  a  cause  of  reduction  in  the  number  of  sea-birds,  egging 
undoubtedly  is  entitled  to  first  place.  Millinery  shooting, 
though  equally  destructive  in  operation,  was  begun  at  a  date 


266  BIRDS  IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

so  comparatively  recent  that,  wicked  as  it  admittedly  is,  it 
must  be  given  second  rank. 

For  a  long  time  all  birds  not  used  for  food  were  ignored 
by  the  American  people.  Before  there  was  a  demand  for 
their  feathers  and  skins  they  were  simply  let  alone.  But 
when  game-birds  became  scarce,  and  many  foreign  immi- 
grants, accustomed  abroad  to  eating  small  birds,  had  come 
to  our  shores,  and  rampant  fashion  had  set  bird  plumes 
among  her  gods,  destruction  began.  All  the  serious  dangers 
that  beset  the  birds,  at  least  those  of  human  origin,  have 
been  operating  only  a  comparatively  short  time.  Then,  again, 
it  is  only  a  few  years  since  the  food  habits  of  such  birds  have 
been  well  understood.  In  view  of  all  this,  it  is  not  strange 
that  protective  laws  were  late  in  making  their  appearance  on 
our  statute-books.  Although  game-birds  were  protected  by 
law  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  it  was  in  1850  that  "small 
and  harmless  birds"  were  given  a  legal  standing.  In  that  year 
both  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey  protected  most  of  the  com- 
mon small  birds  and  their  eggs  by  fixing  a  fine  for  each  bird  or 
egg  destroyed.  Other  States  gradually  followed  suit,  but  in 
fourteen  years  only  twelve  States  and  the  District  of  Columbia 
had  adopted  such  laws.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before 
bird-slaughter  became  notorious,  and  then  legislation  quickly 
became  general.  "Insectivorous  and  song-birds"  was  the 
term  often  employed  in  framing  these  laws ;  but  that  term 
was  too  loose  and  narrow.  The  slaughter  of  plume-birds  led 
to  their  protection  in  Florida  and  Texas,  where  it  was  espe- 
cially severe,  and  by  degrees  they  have  come  to  be  included 
in  the  number  protected  by  many  States.  Even  birds  of  prey, 
since  it  has  been  found  that  there  are  only  half  a  dozen 
injurious  species  out  of  the  whole  family — or,  rather,  so  much 
of  it  as  is  found  in  the  United  States,  numbering  about  ninety 
—have  come  in  for  statutory  shelter  in  several  States.  There 
is  a  deeply-rooted  prejudice  against  them,  however,  that  can- 
not be  overcome  in  one  generation,  even  by  figures ;  the  acts 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  267 

of  the  evil  few  have  so  blackened  the  reputation  of  the  whole 
family,  that  it  is  not  probable  that  hawks  and  owls  will  be 
protected  generally  or  specifically  in  most  States  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  Utah  alone  grants  protection  to  the  whole 
tribe.  Illinois  protects  all  but  u  chicken-hawks.11  Rhode 
Island  protects  fish-hawks.  Three  other  States  have  pre- 
scribed fines  for  killing  bald  eagles.  The  turkey  buzzards 
(Cathartes  aura),  which  prefer  carrion  to  freshly-killed  meat, 
are  useful  as  scavengers  and  are  protected  in  the  Pistrict  of 
Columbia  and  in  eight  States  and  Territories.  They  ought 
to  be  protected  wherever  they  occur. 

Besides  birds  of  prey  there  are  a  number  of  other  birds 
to  which  several  States  have  thus  far  denied  protection. 
Of  such  are  the  grain-eating  birds, — crows,  blackbirds,  etc.; 
those  which  live  upon  fish, — loons,  auks,  mergansers,  herons, 
and  kingfishers ;  and  English  sparrows.  The  last-named  is 
the  one  most  generally  condemned ;  only  a  few  States  have 
exempted  fish-eating  birds  from  protection,  and  less  than  half 
have  announced  a  prejudice  against  crows  and  blackbirds. 

Legislation  primarily  intended  for  game  has  in  a  few  instances 
afforded  protection  to  all  birds.  Laws  prohibiting  shooting  on 
Sunday  and  those  requiring  gun  licenses  are  of  this  sort.  Speak- 
ing of  gun  licenses,  the  protection  of  non-game-birds  is  the  only 
reason  that  can  be  logically  urged  in  their  favor.  The  declara- 
tion that  game  is  the  property  of  the  State  is  the  foundation 
of  all  game  legislation.  That  all  citizens  of  the  State  have 
equal  right  to  it  must  be  conceded.  A  game  law  establishing 
a  gun  license  discriminates  against  the  poor  sportsman  and  in 
favor  of  the  rich  one.  On  the  other  hand,  a  gun  license  re- 
quirement would  undoubtedly  delay  the  day  when  precocious 
youngsters  go  forth  with  two-dollar  guns  until  many  of  them, 
at  least,  are  old  enough  to  be  out  of  the  bird-killing  stage. 

In  the  vicinity  of  some  of  our  larger  cities  trapping  native 
song-birds  to  sell  as  pets  has  been  carried  on  to  such  an 
extent  that  several  States  have  prohibited  it  by  law,  so  they 


268  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

may  neither  be  captured  nor  kept  in  captivity.  Other  States 
specify  what  birds  may  be  caged.  Whether  birds  are  caged 
or  not,  so  long  as  they  are  not  subject  to  traffic,  is  a  matter 
of  no  importance  to  birds  in  general.  The  few  taken  from 
the  wild  state  usually  prove  good  missionaries.  People  that 
keep  a  tame  bird  a  year  or  two  are  usually  friendly  to  the 
race  thereafter. 

Although  every  State  and  Territory  except  Alaska  has  its 
bird  law,  there  is  a  great  lack  of  uniformity  among  the  differ- 
ent States,  and  many  of  the  laws  are  very  incomplete.  Their 
enforcement  is  usually  left  to  State  or  county  officials,  gener- 
ally to  game  wardens  or  commissioners.  Offences  that  do 
not  come  directly  to  their  notice  are  rarely  heard  of,  for  the 
reason  that  most  persons,  even  though  favorable  to  bird  pro- 
tection, dislike  to  report  the  misdeeds  of  their  neighbors. 
The  utility  of  birds  and  the  causes  and  extent  of  decrease 
among  them  are  so  little  understood  by  the  general  public 
that  there  is  no  popular  interest  either  in  making  or  enforcing 
laws  for  their  preservation.  So  far  as  law-making  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  easy  as  compared  with  the  task  of  preventing 
law-breaking;  but  even  law-making — adequate  law-making 
— has  proved  uphill  work.  Protection  should  be  uniform, 
because  most  of  our  birds  cover  vast  areas.  Federal  legisla- 
tion, excepting  that  of  an  indirect  character,  like  the  Lacey  Act, 
which  will  be  noticed  in  the  next  chapter,  would  be  unconsti- 
tutional, and  is  therefore  impossible,  though  it  would  meet 
the  requirements  more  quickly  and  effectively  than  State  laws. 
To  meet  the  need  of  uniformity,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
suggest  a  safe,  intelligent  measure,  the  Committee  on  Bird 
Protection  of  the  American  Ornithologists'  Union  have  pre- 
pared an  act  which  has  already  been  adopted  in  its  main 
features  by  several  States.  At  this  time  it  appears  probable 
that,  through  the  efforts  of  the  ornithologists  and  others  inter- 
ested in  protecting  birds,  this  proposed  act  will  ultimately  be 
the  basis  of  protective  laws  throughout  the  Union.  A  copy 


THE  CONSERVATION  OF  BIRDS.          269 

of  it,  which  is  an  amended  form  of  the  first  draft  taken  from 
Bulletin  No.  12,  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Division  of  Biological  Survey,  page  48,  may  be  found  in  the 
Appendix  of  this  book. 

But  laws  are  hardly  more  than  "  first-aid"  instruments, — 
superficial,  and  not  certain.  They  are  framed  and  caused  to 
be  enacted  by  a  few  specialists,  who  instruct  the  legislation 
committee  having  jurisdiction  over,  such  bills,  but  are  notable 
to  reach  the  people  whom  the  laws  are  to  govern/  To  the 
majority  the  call  for  protective  laws  is  not  understood,  if, 
indeed,  the  laws  themselves  are  known.  Now  that  adequate 
statutes  are  either  enacted  or  may  reasonably  be  expected 
very  soon,  it  remains  to  scatter  information  about  birds  every- 
where, so  that  laws  may  be  respected,  or  perhaps  become 
unnecessary.  Putting  bird  protection  on  a  moral  basis  is  a 
good  deal  like  planting  pears, — the  returns  will  be  slow  in 
coming,  but  are  certain  to  come  in  time.  There  is  no  portion 
of  the  whole  realm  of  natural  history  more  attractive  than  birds. 
People  are  always  to  be  found  who  are  glad  to  read  or  hear 
about  them.  Dissemination  of  facts  about  birds  will  do  more 
for  their  lasting  benefit  than  anything  else,  and  it  is  in  this 
line  that  those  interested  in  their  conservation  should  work. 
There  must  be  lectures,  short  articles  of  a  popular  nature  in 
newspapers  and  magazines,  distribution  of  government  and 
other  publications  relating  to  birds,  posting  bird  laws  in  con- 
spicuous places,  and,  most  important  of  all,  systematic  bird 
work  in  public  schools. 

The  importance  of  engaging  the  interest  of  our  youth  in 
birds  cannot  be  over-estimated.  It  results  in  a  double  benefit, 
for  the  birds  will  be  held  in  higher  esteem  and  the  children 
will  become  possessed  of  a  source  of  lasting  pleasure.  The 
nest-robbing,  bird-shooting  boy  and  the  feather-wearing  girl 
may  be  made  friends  and  allies  of  the  birds  at  an  expenditure 
of  not  over  fifteen  minutes  of  school  time  a  week.  Fortu- 
nately many  teachers  have  lately  taken  up  the  study  of  birds 


270  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

as  a  recreation,  and  thus  have  been  led  to  bring  it  into  school. 
A  Bird  Day  is  celebrated  in  many  schools,  and  in  at  least  three 
States  Bird  Day  is  combined  with  Arbor  Day,  and  appointed 
by  executive  proclamation  to  be  observed  in  schools  by  appro- 
priate exercises. 

While  the  results  of  school  work  are  mostly  as  remote  from 
the  application  as  youth  is  from  maturity,  they  ought  not  to 
be  wholly  so.  As  has  already  been  noted,  one  of  the  greatest 
afflictions  endured  by  birds  is  the  nest-robbing  small  boy. 
Hunting  birds'  nests  is  apparently  an  original  sin,  born  in  the 
flesh  and  bound  to  crop  out.  Properly  handled,  it  need  be 
neither  condoned  nor  condemned.  The  considerate  teacher 
will  take  the  bull  by  the  horns  by  asking  his  pupils  to  find 
nests.  He  will  require  an  account  at  stated  intervals  of  the 
position  and  architecture  of  nests,  the  number  and  appearance 
of  eggs,  period  of  incubation,  and  length  of  time  the  young 
remain  in  the  nest.  The  short-sighted  policy  of  taking  eggs 
will  thus  be  overcome.  There  should  be  no  honor  in  failure. 
None  should  receive  credit  who  are  not  able  to  report  the 
young  safely  on  the  wing.  Of  course  the  teacher  should 
have  a  lively  interest  in  the  matter  himself,  and  be  able  to 
advise  in  many  ways,  but  this  much  granted,  the  plan  will 
work.1 


1  In  this  school  work  The  Bird  Calendar,  hy  Clarence  Moores  Weed, 
will  be  found  useful.  It  enables  the  pupil  to  keep  his  record  clearly  and 
systematically.  It  is  published  by  Rand,  McNally  &  Co.,  Chicago. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

THE  CONSERVATION  OF  BIRDS  (CONCLUDED). 


II.    THE    GAME-BIRDS. 


THE  term  game-birds  is  at  present  held  to  comprise  the  fol- 
lowing four  orders  of  birds  :  Anseres,  ducks,  geese,  and  swans ; 
Paludicolce,  cranes,  rails,  coots,  and  gallinules  ;  Limicolce,  shore 
birds  ;  Gallince,  grouse  and  quail.  The  members  of  the  order 
Columbce,  pigeons  and  doves,  have  been  generally  considered 
game,  and  still  are  by  many ;  but  these  birds  have  become  so 
scarce  that  it  is  plainly  unwise  to  treat  them  as  game  any 
longer.  For  the  same  reason  certain  species  belonging  to  the 
orders  above  named  should  be  taken  from  the  game  list,  tem- 
porarily at  least.  The  cranes  are  such  birds.  Flickers,  larks, 
robins,  and  similar  birds,  formerly  called  game,  as  we  have 
seen,  by  right  are  game  no  longer.  Either  by  decrease  or  by 
a  demonstrated  superior  living  value  the  accepted  list  of  game- 
birds  has  been  growing  shorter.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
chapter  to  find  the  cause  and  trace  the  course  of  this  tendency. 

Prior  to  the  settlement  of  America  by  the  whites,  and, 
indeed,  for  many  years  after  it,  the  game-bird  problem  was 
wholly  in  the  destructive  phase.  How  could  enough  birds  be 
secured  to  satisfy  bodily  needs  ?  was  the  sum  of  it.  After  a 
steadily-increasing  drain  for  many  years,  we  find  ourselves 
confronted  by  a  different  phase,  not  destructive,  but  conserva- 
tive. The  question  now  stands,  How  can  extermination  be 
prevented  ? 

Aboriginal  weapons  were  so  crude  and  furred  animals  so 
much  more  desirable  on  account  of  their  skins  that  birds  were 
not  seriously  persecuted  by  the  red  men.  The  pioneers  were 
better  equipped.  Like  the  Indians,  they  depended  on  game 
for  their  meat  supply,  and  early  appreciated  the  sapid  qualities 

271 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  273 

of  our  native  wild  fowl.  Birds  were  abundant  in  those  days  ; 
powder  and  shot  were  too  dear  to  be  expended  on  what  could 
not  be  put  to  a  good  use,  so  we  may  be  assured  that  the  early 
settlers  did  not  abuse  their  privileges. 

Necessity  made  man  a  destroyer  of  life.  Bodily  demands 
first  sent  him  abroad  to  match  human  courage  against  brute 
ferocity,  human  patience  against  brute  endurance,  human  cun- 
ning against  brute  sagacity.  He  found  the  excitement  of  the 
chase  no  less  agreeable  than  its  products.  Hope  and  fear  and 
victorious  exultation  combined  to  fill  the  hunter's  breast  with 
enthusiasm  for  his  pursuit.  The  peculiar  savors  of  wild  meat 
were  sweet  to  his  palate.  What  wonder,  then,  that  the  red 
man  declined  to  till  the  ground  or  that  the  fathers  failed  to  lay 
aside  the  gun  when  it  was  no  longer  needed  to  supply  the 
family  larder. 

These  two  motives — appetite  and  love  of  sport — are  the 
roots  of  the  whole  matter,  and  they  must  be  the  basis  of  our 
investigation.  Let  us  see  what  each  has  contributed  to  bring 
about  the  present  depletion  of  game-birds ;  let  us  compare 
their  merits,  ethical  and  practical. 

As  the  land  became  cleared  of  forests  the  range  of  wild 
creatures  was  correspondingly  restricted,  and  it  was  no  longer 
possible  for  every  man  to  supply  his  table  with  their  flesh. 
There  was  no  alternative  but  to  use  that  of  domestic  animals 
in  their  place.  Thus  scarcity  long  since  relegated  all  sorts  of 
game  from  common  fare,  but  it  has  ever  been  held  in  high 
esteem  as  a  luxury  with  those  able  to  procure  it.  The  division 
of  labor  that  gradually  developed  produced  in  turn  the  itiner- 
ant butcher  and  the  market-man.  The  art  of  killing  and  the 
art  of  selling  were  divorced.  The  market-man  gives  employ- 
ment not  only  to  butcher  but  to  a  host  of  others  who  contribute 
to  the  supply  of  necessities  and  luxuries  that  he  handles.  By 
combining  energy,  wealth,  and  science  he  has  laid  under  con- 
tribution every  land,  eliminated  distance,  and  defied  alike 
climate  and  season.  It  is  largely  to  his  enterprise  that  we 

18 


274  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

must  ascribe  the  enormous  quantities  of  game-birds  that  are 
annually  consumed  by  people  who  never  saw  one  alive.  At 
his  call  skilled  huntsmen  took  the  field,  employing  every  means 
ingenuity  could  suggest  to  increase  the  catch.  Nets,  snares, 
traps,  decoys,  and  ponderous  guns  were  in  constant  use.  For 
years  professional  hunters  slaughtered,  dealers  handled,  and 
gluttons  gobbled  without  reason  or  restraint.  There  could  be 
but  one  result :  wild  fowl  have  become  scarce.  Gunners  no 
longer  return  at  night  with  more  birds  than  they  can  carry ; 
not  seldom  they  come  in  empty-handed.  But  the  millionaire 
makes  up  the  shortage  by  paying  higher  prices.  When  a  pair 
of  canvas-backs  bring  a  five-dollar  note  there  is  still  money  in 
shooting  ducks. 

The  same  lavish  fancy  that  prompts  a  rich  gourmand  to  buy 
high-priced  ducks  prompts  him  to  spend  an  equal  sum  for  a 
box  of  strawberries  out  of  season.  The  ducks  are  actually 
not  finer  than  others  of  less  repute  ;  the  berries  are  not  sweeter 
nor  better-flavored  than  those  he  buys  in  spring  at  ten  cents  a 
box.  His  purchases  are  made  without  regard  either  to  cost  or 
intrinsic  worth.  He  has  reached  a  point  where  gratification 
outweighs  money.  But  let  us  see  the  difference  to  us  whether 
he  spends  it  for  berries  or  for  ducks.  When  he  buys  berries 
he  pays  the  gardener  a  special  price  for  a  special  kind  of  skill 
and  for  maintaining  an  expensive  establishment  a  fair  recom- 
pense. The  fruit  is  as  truly  the  sole  property  of  the  horti- 
culturist as  is  the  money  the  sole  property  of  the  purchaser. 
The  transaction  is  legitimate.  Now  as  to  ducks.  The  gunner 
receives  pay  for  skill  and  toil,  as  in  the  other  case ;  but  the 
birds  are  his  only  by  an  acquisition  not  wholly  above  question. 
He  has  spent  nothing  on  their  nurture.  He  disposes  of  what 
we  have  as  clear  a  title  to  as  he  if  we  would  but  make  it  good 
by  scouring  the  marshes.  Such  a  title  may  not  be  very  strong, 
but  it  has  a  certain  validity  nevertheless.  As  a  democratic 
people,  there  is  but  one  light  in  which  we  can  regard  game,— 
that  is,  as  public  property.  If  there  were  an  inexhaustible 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  275 

supply  there  would  be  no  ground  for  conflict  between  com- 
mercial and  private  interests  ;  but  the  supply  is  already  alarm- 
ingly diminished,  and  we  cannot  doubt  that  traffic  has  been  a 
large  factor  in  making  it  so. 

When  this  country  was  first  settled  predaceous  animals 
were  troublesome.  Bounties  Avere  offered  for  their  scalps. 
For  the  most  part  they  are  now  extinct  in  the  older  localities. 
A  price  on  the  heads  of  hawks  has  reduced  them  to  absolute 
scarcity  in  most  parts  of  the  East.  It  was  put  there  for  that 
purpose,  and  there  is  general  gratification  at  the  success  of  the 
plan.  Who  will  contend  that  a  price  on  a  bird's  body  is  likely 
to  prove  any  less  fatal  to  the  bird,  as  a  species,  than  if  it  were 
a  premium  on  heads  ?  Various  persons  at  different  times  have 
advanced  arguments  in  defence  of  selling  game,  and  at  the 
same  time  have  offered  plausible  advice  as  to  how  it  might  be 
done  without  endangering  the  stock.  It  has  generally  turned 
out  that  a  personal  interest  lay  at  the  bottom  of  such  advo- 
cacy ;  it  might  be  a  share  in  a  cold-storage  plant  or  a  private 
game  preserve  that  needed  more  freedom  in  management  to 
become  profitable.  So  long  as  there  is  a  money  value  on 
game-birds,  so  long  will  there  be  a  standing  army  of  gunners 
harrying  hill  and  dale,  marsh  and  shore, — a  shiftless,  irre- 
sponsible company,  who  prefer  the  excitement  of  the  hunt, 
although  coupled  with  precarious  returns,  to  regular  employ- 
ment and  a  certain  wage, — shooting  without  mercy,  insatiate. 

Although  America  cannot  boast  of  so  large  a  variety  of 
quadrupeds  as  the  Old  World,  her  wild  fowl  are  unexcelled 
in  variety,  numbers,  or  gastronomic  qualities.  Persons  expert 
in  handling  a  gun  find  them  incomparable  as  a  source  of 
sport.  No  amount  of  the  smaller  four-footed  game  can  bring 
to  the  heart  of  the  true  sportsman  the  satisfaction  he  feels 
when  he  stops  the  headlong  flight  of  a  grouse  or  duck. 

Hunting  has  always  ha.d  many  devotees  who  have  followed 
it  simply  for  pleasure.  To  be  a  successful  hunter  of  wild  fowl 
one  must  have  a  taste  for  it,  keen  senses,  and  no  mean  skill. 


276  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

To  such  an  one  it  is  a  prime  diversion.  The  days  allotted  to 
it  are  landmarks  in  anticipation  and  remembrance.  Thoughts 
of  autumn  keep  a  multitude  contentedly  at  the  plow,  the 
bench,  and  the  desk,  resisting  the  appeals  of  spring  and  the 
torrid  oppression  of  summer.  For  most  men  there  is  no 
pleasure  in  the  sight  of  flowing  blood  or  broken  bones  or 
gaping  wounds  or  glazing  eyes.  It  is  not  these  concomitants 
of  death  nor  death  itself  that  are  enjoyed.  Enticement  afield 
lies  rather  in  the  fortunes  of  chance  arid  the  exercise  of  ability  > 
in  the  thousand^  delights  to  eye  and  ear  in  the  haunts  of  nature — 
woods,  water,  busy  insects,  flitting  birds,  the  gorgeous  color- 
ing of  autumn  leaves,  shy  plants  that  blossom  only  in  the  shade. 
Chasing  the  quarry  is  but  a  string  on  which  these  things  are 
strung.  Grief  bids  farewell,  care  and  melancholy  go  away, 
when  one  turns  nimrod,  as  naturally  as  hunger  follows  fasting 
or  sleep  the  labor  of  the  day. 

With  many,  perhaps  the  majority,  Avho  shoot  birds,  sport  is 
the  main  thing ;  the  game,  after  it  is  secured,  being  secondary, 
— hardly  more  than  incidental.  The  diversion  of  mind,  the 
increased  vigor,  the  excitement  at  the  critical  moment,  and  a 
reasonable  number  of  hits  are  sufficient  returns  for  all  the 
discomforts  endured.  The  tender,  woodsy-savored  breasts  at 
supper,  to  crown  the  day,  are  perquisites.  But,  unfortunately, 
there  are  men  among  the  legion  included  under  the  title  of 
sportsmen,  as  distinguished  from  market-gunners,  who  have 
never  learned  the  virtue  of  moderation.  They  are  never  Sat- 
isfied ;  they  cannot  kill  enough.  No  matter  how  many  birds 
they  see  or  how  little  use  they  may  have  for  them,  they  kill 
and  kill,  so  long  as  any  are  in  sight  or  there  is  a  shot  in  the 
locker.  The  term  "  game-hog,1'  which  has  been  applied  to  this 
sort  of  a  sportsman,  is  pat.  His  place  is  at  the  bottom  of  the 
shooting  list.  The  market-gunner  has  a  poor  business,  but  he 
has  at  least  a  tangible  excuse  for  killing  all  he  can.  For  the 
"  game-hog"  there  is  no  extenuation,  unless  we  credit  him 
with  a  weak  mind. 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  277 

The  number  of  sportsmen  has  constantly  increased.  This 
happens  mainly  as  a  result  of  increased  population,  though  it 
has  been  assisted  by  modern  inventions.  Improvements  in 
fire-arms  have  made  successful  hunting  more  sure. 

Railroads  have  penetrated  wilder  lands  and  afford  easy 
facilities  for  reaching  good  grounds  that  otherwise  would  be 
inaccessible  to  the  average  gunner.  When. we  reflect  that 
game-birds  showed  a  diminution  in  numbers  a  hundred  years 
ago,  it  is  a  wonder  that,  with  the  increasing  forces  working 
against  them,  there  are  any  left.  So  prevalent  is  the  hunting 
spirit  that,  as  in  other  branches  of.  human  interest,  fraterni- 
ties have  been  formed.  Sportsmen's  clubs  and  sportsmen's 
leagues  are  many.  Newspaper  and  magazine  publishers  cater 
to  sportsmen  by  devoting  more  or  less  space  to  sporting  news. 
Wealthy  men,  fond  of  shooting,  club  together,  gain  control  of 
favorite  game  resorts  by  purchase  or  lease,  and  erect  expensive 
houses  thereon,  in  order  that  they  may  not  forego  home  com- 
forts while  engaged  in  shooting.  Along  the  coast  and  on  the 
borders  of  the  great  lakes  are  many  such  tracts,  held  for  duck 
and  goose  shooting.  In  the  primeval  woods  are  many  others. 
Such  conveniences  attract  men  who  otherwise  would  not  care 
to  endure  camp-life,  and  thus  add  largely  to  the  foes  of  game- 
birds.  There  is  another  side  to  this,  however,  which  is  impor- 
tant, for  it  may  prove  the  salvation  of  th.e  birds, — the  men  of 
wealth  and  influence  are  made  aware  of  their  scarcity.  Their 
investments  in  club  properties  as  well  as  their  love  for  sport 
give  them  an  incentive  to  try  to  mend  matters.  In  a  number 
of  instances  they  have  replenished  their  covers  with  imported 
birds.  They  establish  rules  to  regulate  shooting  on  their  ter- 
ritory, they  influence  public  sentiment  by  appeals  through  the 
press,  and  direct  legislation  with  a  strong  hand.  There  are 
many  sportsmen,  without  property  rights,  in  favor  of  adequate 
protection,  who  are  ready  to  quit  when  they  have  killed  a 
reasonable  number  of  birds.  Such  men  are  the  right  sort  of 
leaven ;  they  can  preach  the  doctrine  of  conservation  with 


278  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

effect,  for  they  practise  it,  and  cannot  be  accused  of  selfish 
motives.  As  editors  and  contributors  they  have  already 
awakened  a  wide-spread  interest  in  the  protection  of  game, 
and  it  is  largely  through  their  labors  that  protective  laws  have 
been  spread  on  the  statute-books  of  every  State  in  the  Union. 

In  our  examination  of  motives  we  have  seen  that,  though 
differing  in  kind,  they  have  worked  together  along  the  same 
line  towards  the  same  result.  So  far  as  effect  goes,  they  have 
been  practically  a  unit,  and  in  tracing  the  progress  of  decrease 
need  not  be  separated.  It  is  when  we  consider  preventive 
means  that  a  distinction  sjiould  be  made  between  them. 

In  the  early  days  game  was  taken  at  all  seasons  and  by 
every  available  means.  The  settlers  were  not  in  a  condition 
to  think  of  ultimate  results,  and  their  successors  did  not  take 
the  pains.  For  many  years  wild  fowl  were  so  plentiful  that 
the  idea  that  they  might  become  scarce  probably  did  not  occur 
to  people  in  general.  To  kill  a  female  bird  in  spring  virtually 
destroys  a  whole  brood  for  a  gain  of  one — a  poor  one  at 
that.  In  spite  of  the  plain  improvidence  of  killing  at  all 
seasons,  it  was  continued  for  generations  after  it  was  noticed 
that  birds  were  growing  less.  So  it  was  with  traps,  nets,  and 
swivel-guns.  As  a  specific  illustration  of  the  results  of  inju- 
dicious killing  and  of  the  prevailing  negligent  spirit  with  which 
it  was  viewed,  let  us  look  at  the  history  of  New  Hampshire. 
Being  one  of  the  older  States,  the  history  of  its  game  is  prac- 
tically a  chronicle  of  that  of  other  older  States  and  a  prophecy 
of  that  of  the  newer. 

New  Hampshire  was  first  settled  in  its  southeast  corner, 
near  the  sea,  about  the  year  1623.  Its  forests  were  dense 
and  its  soil  stubborn,  so  that  its  occupation  was  very  gradual. 
In  1792  Jeremy  Belknap  published  a  history  of  the  State,  in 
which  was  given  a  list  of  its  birds.  Among  them  were  four 
game-birds  that  no  longer  have  a  place  there.  They  were  the 
sand-hill  crane,  the  heath-hen,  the  wild  turkey,  and  the  .pas- 
senger pigeon.  The  crane  was  even  then  presumably  rare, 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  279 

though  at  about  the  same  time  Samuel  Williams  wrote  of 
them  as  among  the  commonest  water-birds  of  Vermont.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  during  the  nineteenth  century  only  one  sand- 
hill crane  is  known  to  have  been  taken  in  New  England. 
This  accidental  pilgrim  to  the  land  of  his  forefathers  was 
killed  about  1896,  near  where  New  Hampshire  was  first 
settled.  Heath-hens  long  since  vanished  from  the  State, 
and  the  only  remnant  of  the  race  left  in  New  England  is 
among  the  dense  brush-land  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  off  the 
south  coast  of  Massachusetts.  The  wild  turkey  has  also  dis- 
appeared. Nobody  knows  when  the  last  one  was  killed. 
In  Massachusetts  they  were  occasionally  seen  down  to  1847. 
It  is  to  be  sincerely  regretted  that  such  birds  are  gone,  the 
turkey  and  grouse  especially,  for  no  finer  game-birds  exist  the 
world  over.  But  as  a  striking  example  of  the  effect  of  cease- 
less slaughter  the  wild  pigeon  is  pre-eminent.  Belknap, 
quoting  from  the  journal  of  Richard  Hazen,  who  surveyed 
the  province  line  in  1741,  says,  "For  three  miles  together 
the  pigeons'  nests  were  so  thick  that  five  hundred  might 
have  been  told  on  the  beech-trees  at  one  time."  Before  the 
end  of  that  century  pigeons  were  greatly  reduced,  though 
still  abundant.  Persons  now  living  remember  when  netting 
and  shooting  pigeons  at  "beds"  was  a  common  practice. 
They  brought  but  a  trifle  per  dozen,  yet  many  men  were  in 
the  business  of  capturing  them  for  market.  The  decrease 
was  more  and  more  rapid  as  years  passed.  By  1850  they 
were  scarce.  Twenty-five  years  later  they  were  rare,  and  in 
ten  years  more  not  one  was  to  be  found.  Ten  years  after 
their  disappearance  the  State  legislature  passed  a  law  pro- 
hibiting the  killing  of  pigeons  for  a  term  of  three  years. 

But  it  is  not  the  exterminated  species  alone  that  deserve 
attention;  indeed,  they  are  "spilt  milk1'  and  may  as  well  be 
forgotten,  unless  we  can  turn  their  fate  to  account  in  perpetu- 
ating those  that  are  left.  The  worst  sufferers  in  New  Hamp- 
shire to-day  are  the  water-fowl  and  shore-birds,  especially 


280  BIRDS  IN  THEIR  RELATIONS  TO   MAN. 

near  the  coast,  where  most  of  them  are  exclusively  found. 
A  conservative  estimate  of  the  average  annual  slaughter  of 
water-fowl — ducks  principally — on  her  eighteen  miles  of  coast 
and  adjacent  brackish  waters,  is  five  thousand.  Half  that 
number  are  sometimes  killed  off  a  single  promontory, — Boars 
Head,  at  Hampton  Beach.  The  majority  are  shot  for  revenue 
only.  The  older  hunters  are  unanimous  in  saying  that  all 
sorts  of  water-fowl  are  scarce  compared  with  what  they  were 
fifty  years  ago.  Of  the  myriads  of  plover,  snipe,  curlews,  and 
sand-pipers  that  formerly  thronged  beach  and  marsh  only  a 
fraction  remain.  The  number  of  gunners  that  follow  them 
is  so  great  and  the  area  they  frequent  is  so  wide  that  any 
estimate  of  the  yearly  capture  is  hazardous. 

Birds  have  been  killed  faster  than  they  could  multiply.  At 
first  it  was  not  realized,  but  it  was  known  so  long  ago  as 
Belknap  wrote,  for  he  relates  that  "  some  of  our  epicurean 
gentry"  had  already  begun  to  fear  for  the  ruffed  grouse. 
Thanks  to  its  peculiar  habits,  that  royal  bird  still  inhabits  its 
native  heath.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  decrease  was  ap- 
prehended, it  was  more  than  fifty  years  before  the  mental 
inertia  of  the  people  was  overcome  sufficiently  for  them  to 
take  active  measures  to  stay  it.  Three  game-birds  had  suffered 
extinction  and  a  fourth  was  on  the  brink  when  the  first  step 
was  taken. 

The  first  game  laws  enacted  related  to  time  and  method 
of  capture.  Spring  killing  and  trapping  were  the  earliest 
prohibitions.  Only  a  part  of  the  permanent  resident  birds 
were  given  even  this  protection.  As  time  went  on  the  num- 
ber of  protected  birds  and  the  period  of  their  protection 
were  gradually  increased;  but  it  was  something  like  forty 
years  after  the  initial  law  before  the  game-birds  found  in  the 
State  were  given  a  closed  season.  In  spite  of  statutes  regu- 
lating seasons  and  methods,  it  at  length  became  apparent  that 
the  decrease  was  not  wholly  checked,  and  further  measures 
were  taken.  It  was  made  an  offence  to  send  dead  grouse 


282  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

and  woodcock  and  plover  out  of  the  State.  Public  opinion 
favorable  to  the  protection  of  game  has  been  steadily  growing. 
A  State  game  and  fish  commission,  having  game  interests  in 
charge,  superintends  the  propagation  and  distribution  of  game 
and  prosecutes  offenders.  This,  in  a  nut-shell,  is  a  history 
of  game-bird  relations  in  New  Hampshire. 

In  other  States  the  story  runs  much  the  same.  A  pro- 
nounced falling  off  in  the  number  of  game-birds  is  acknowl- 
edged everywhere.  Some  States  have  been  more  prompt  with 
measures  to  prevent  it,  some  more  tardy.  New  York  passed 
a  law  protecting  heath-hens  in  1791,  but  so  late  as  1874  only 
twenty-four  States  and  territories  had  game  laws.  At  present 
every  State  offers  some  protection.  Nineteen  prohibit  market 
hunting  or  the  sale  of  game  at  all  times  ;  forty  prohibit  export ; 
fifteen  require  that  non-residents  shall  procure  gun  licenses, 
and  several  of  them  make  the  law  apply  to  residents  as  well, 
though  to  them  licenses  are  issued  at  a  nominal  rate.  In 
twelve  States  there  are  laws  limiting  the  number  of  birds  that 
may  be  killed  by  one  person  in  a  day.  Although  the  need  of 
game  protection  was  a  long  time  in  impressing  the  public 
mind,  when  once  aroused,  the  sentiment  in  its  favor  rapidly 
gained  strength.  There  is  scarcely  a  legislature  that  is  not 
asked  to  do  something  to  help  it  along. 

One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  general  en- 
dorsement of,  and  respect  for,  the  laws  as  they  now  stand  is 
the  lack  of  uniformity  which  they  present.  One  does  not 
mind  refraining  so  much  when  everybody  else  has  to  refrain 
too  ;  but  when  he  sees  his  neighbors  doing  what  he  is  enjoined 
not  to  do,  there  is  a  temptation  to  rebel.  When  there  is  a 
variance  in  the  laws  of  the  adjoining  States  there  is  sure  to 
be  poaching  near  the  boundary.  One  State  allows  spring 
shooting  of  Avater-fowl,  the  next  prohibits  it,  yet  they  have  a 
continuous  coast-line  or  are  separated  by  a  river.  There  is 
injustice  when  slaughter  must  cease  at  an  arbitrary  line  which 
has  no  natural  significance.  Those  who  kill  illegally  under 


THE   CONSERVATION    OF   BIRDS.  283 

such  circumstances  always  defend  themselves  on  this  ground, 
though  it  may  not  be  the  real  cause  of  their  crime.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  that  it  cannot  save  them  from  punishment  if  they  are 
prosecuted,  it  undoubtedly  keeps  down  the  number  of  com- 
plaints that  reach  official  ears.  Officials  themselves  are  likely 
to  give  most  of  their  attention  to  other  parts  of  the  State. 

As  an  example  of  non- uniformity  take  Iowa  and  her  imme- 
diate neighbors  north  and  south,  Minnesota  and  Missouri. 
The  close  season  for  ducks  in  Iowa  is  April  15  to  September 
1  ;  in  Minnesota  it  is  January  1  to  September  1  ;  and  in  Mis- 
souri April  1  to  October  1.  Iowa  gunners  are  allowed  to  kill 
ducks  six  weeks  longer  than  Missouri  gunners,  and  thirteen 
weeks  longer  than  Minnesota  gunners.  If  ducks  were  perma- 
nent residents  such  discrepancy  would  not  matter,  but  the 
majority  of  them  are  migrants,  exposed  to  fire  from  each  of  the 
three  States  in  succession.  The  laws  relating  to  other  game- 
birds  in  these  three  States  are  no  nearer  alike.  Neither  are 
game  laws  of  other  contiguous  States  better  in  this  respect. 
In  the  statement  of  close  seasons  in  the  different  States  and 
territories  issued  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture l  there 
are  not  three  successive  States  with  uniform  laws  relating  to 
a  single  game-bird,  with  the  exception  of  Utah,  Idaho,  and 
Washington,  which  agree  in  protecting  grouse  and  prairie 
chickens.  This  condition  of  things  is  manifestly  wrong,  and 
so  long  as  it  continues  the  laws  in  question  are  certain  to  be 
violated.  Popular  sentiment  will  not  uphold  them.  It  is  not 
practicable  to  police  every  bit  of  woods,  every  stretch  of  water, 
every  grain-field.  If  game  laws  do  not  meet  the  approval  and 
have  the  hearty  support  of  the  masses,  they  are  void. 

The  palpable  impropriety  of  prohibiting  on  one  side  of  a 
certain  line  what  is  openly  and  legally  practised  on  the  other 
can  lead  to  but  one  outcome — defiance.  That  the  State  is  the 
sovereign  power,  so  far  as  its  internal  affairs  are  concerned, 

1  Bulletin  No.  14,  Division  of  Biological  Survey. 


NORTHERN     STATES 

Maine 

JAN. 

JLB. 

MAR. 

APR. 

MAY 

JUNE)  JULY 

AUG. 

SEPT 

nr.T 

NOV. 

nrr, 

y/y/y 

New  Hampshire 
Vermont 

^Zy/y/ 

%^ 

yffi/ 

y/y// 

y//y/. 

;g|p 

y//y' 

y/yy/ 

Massachusetts... 
Rhodelsland.  
Connecticut 

yy/y, 

r 

^y^yy/y/y 

y/y/; 

•    • 

y/y/y, 

y/y/^y/y/y/ 

y/\ 

•///// 

y^y/yy//y// 

yy/y/ 

New.York  ...  

y/yy/y/yy/, 

y/y/y/ 

^y/y/ 

New.  Jersev 

yy/y/Y////// 

y/y/y/ 

y/ 

Pennsylvania 

y/////////// 

' 

y/y/y/ 

Delaware 

\// 

//yy/0/y// 

y/y/y, 

'y/y// 

Maryland1 

\y/y/ 

vyy/y/ 

y/y///yyyy> 

'y//// 

y/y/y// 

y/yy/ 

District  of  Columbia 

//// 

yy//// 

y/y/y/ 

y/y// 

y/y// 

s///y/ 

'•  '• 

y/y/y/ 

•• 

Wefty,rgm,a    

y/y/y, 

\/y/y/y/y// 

y/yy/ 

y//y/ 

'y/y/y/ 

Kentucky.  

f///'''//, 

y/y/yy/yy/ 

y/y// 

\/y\ 

ghp.  ... 

'y/y/ 

Y///y// 

\ 

ryy 

'y/y%//y/, 

y/y/y/ 

y/yy 

y/yy// 

y/yy//. 

y/\ 

y/yy/ 

Michigan 

•'•  <  • 

y/y// 

y/^fa/yy/y/r/'/y/ 

y///yyy//y/. 

y//yy/ 

y/y//1 

Indiana 

y/y/yy^y/y/ 

y/y/y/ 

y/y/y/ 

MljnwjT  

//y/(/y/y/ 

y/y/y/ 

y/yy/y 

y/yy// 

Wisconsin..  _.  

'£&& 

y///^ 

/y/y/ 

'4Z& 

w/y/+ 

y/y/y/ 

\/y/y/ 

y// 

' 

Iowa 

\^Z/A 

___ 

m 

yy//%?A 

//y// 

y//#% 

y/y/y/ 

Missouri.  

y/y/y 

y/yy// 

y///y/ 

y/y/y, 

y/y/y, 

Kansas  

Nebraska        .. 

\y// 

y/y/y/, 

y/y/y 

/y/y// 

y/yy//, 

South  Dakota 
NgfthpakqtA  

yffly/. 

/yy/y/ 

y///y// 

yy/y/ 

y/y/y/ 

y/y/y/, 

''/y/y/ 

y/y// 

Montana 

y//y/ 

y^^/yy^/y/ 

y//y/ 

Wyoming.... 

y/y/y/. 

'/y/y/y/y/'/ 

y/yy* 

Cplorad?  

V// 

y/y/y/. 

y/y/^y/y^ 

y/y/y/ 

North  Carolina  *_._.. 

SOUTHERN     STATES 

yy/y/ 

y/////, 

y//y/ 

y/yy/// 

y/y/y// 

y/y/y/ 

y//y/. 

% 

South  Carolina.  .  .   , 

.Georgia  

Florida 

y/yy/, 

'yy/y/ 

y/y/y, 

y//y/ 

y//// 

yy/7// 

Alabama....  
Mississippi 

Tennessee  * 

y/y/y/ 

y/y/y, 

y//// 

yy/y/ 

Arkansas 

Louisiana 

y//// 

yy/y/. 

'yy/y/\ 

y/y/y\ 

'y/y/y/ 

Texas.  

Oklahoma 

New  Mexico  

Arizona      . 

y/fftf/ 

y/y/y/. 

w// 

y///// 

y////, 

'<y//y/ 

y/A 

PACIFIC    STATES 

California 

y/y/y/, 

'y/y// 

y/y// 

'y/y/ 

y/y///\ 

y/y/tyy/yy/. 

yy////, 

Nevada"  ' 

HI 

• 

'y/y/ 

y/yy/ 

2 

y// 

Utah.    . 

V/ 

//y/y/ 

y/y/y/ 

• 

'yyy/ 

/ 

'y/y// 

/y/y/ 

yy/y/ 

Idaho  
Oregon 

y/y/y\ 

y/y/y/ 

• 

y/yy/. 

•  • 

y// 

fyy/y> 

' 

y//y/ 

y/y/y. 

'. 

Washington 

y/y/'/ 

. 

y/y// 

y/////. 

yy/// 

/ 

CANADA 

BntishCplumbift 
N.  W  Territories 

y//y// 

y/yy// 

yy/y 

yy/y 

'/• 

,'  • 

j}> 

,•  ' 

y/y/y/ 

y//\ 

Manitoba  
Ontario 

'/yy// 

• 

yy/y/^, 

y/y/// 

y/y/y/ 

y/y/y/ 

. 

y/y/// 

y/y/y, 

y/y/y/' 

y//y/ 

y//y/, 

'y///// 

• 

y/y/ 

v/ 

Quebec 

fy/yy/ 

y/yy/y, 

y/yy/ 

y/y/y/ 

y//// 

y/y/y/ 

yA 

New  Brunswick 

//yy/ 

yy/y/ 

y//y/y/ 

y/y/1 

y/y%y// 

y/y/' 

/y/yy/ 

'/y/y//. 

y/y/y 

Nova  Scotia 

ty//// 

y/y/y/ 

y/y// 

'/y/y/ 

y//y/ 

y//yy/ 

Newfoundland  

\y// 

y/y/y/. 

ry//y/ 

y/y//, 

y///y/ 

y///5ys 

yy/y/. 

y/y/y, 

yA 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING   CLOSE   SEASONS   FOR   WILD   DUCKS   IN   1901. 
The  shaded  areas  indicate  close   seasons.      l  Seasons  vary  in   different   counties. 
Biological  /Survey. ) 


(From 


THE   CONSERVATION   OF   BIRDS.  285 

is  no  reason  why  States  should  not  and  cannot  agree  to 
concerted  legislation.  In  this,  as  in  all  movements  involving 
numbers,  there  must  be  pioneers, — individuals  to  move  first. 
There  have  been  pioneers.  New  York  was  the  first  one. 
To-day  there  are  all  degrees  of  protection  offered.  In  a  few 
States  it  is  nearly  or  quite  up  to  the  desires  of  those  who  have 
given  the  subject  most  thought.  It  now  remains  for  others 
to  get  in  line. 

A  suggestion  made  by  Mr.  Charles  Hallock,  in  an  address 
to  the  National  Game,  Bird,  and  Fish  Protective  Association,  in 
1897,  relative  to  uniform  laws,  is  worthy  of  notice.  He  pro- 
posed a  division  of  the  United  States  into  three  districts  which 
might  readily  adopt  game  laws  of  the  same  general  tenor,  if  not 
actually  identical.  The  original  scheme  of  Mr.  Hallock,  some- 
what modified  as  to  boundaries,  was  presented  by  Messrs. 
Palmer  and  Olds,  of  the  Biological  Survey,  in  Bulletin  No.  16, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  from  which  the  map 
at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  is  taken.  The  Rocky  Mountains 
form  a  natural  barrier  between  the  Northern  and  Pacific  divi- 
sions, while  the  line  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
divisions  is  established  with  reference  to  climate.  This  plan 
is  worth  trying,  if  not  in  detail,  at  least  as  a  working  basis. 
Undoubtedly  as  soon  as  those  interested  in  the  preservation 
of  game  thoughout  the  Union  are  better  organized,  some  such 
scheme  for  securing  a  reasonable  uniformity  will  be  carried 
into  effect. 

An  important  piece  of  legislation  in  favor  of  birds  is  the 
Lacey  Act,  so  called,  a  national  law,  approved  May  25,  1900. 
By  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  preservation,  distribution, 
introduction,  and  restoration  of  game-birds  and  other  birds  is 
included  in  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture. The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  is  authorized  to  purchase 
and  distribute  such  birds  as  may  be  required,  subject  to  the 
laws  of  the  various  States  and  Territories ;  and  also  from  time 
to  time  to  collect  and  publish  useful  information  as  to  their 


286  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

propagation,  uses,  and  preservation.  The  importation  of  for- 
eign wild  animals  and  birds  without  a  special  permit  from  the 
Secretary  of  Agriculture  is  made  unlawful.  The  introduction 
of  English  sparrows  and  starlings  is  specially  prohibited.  This 
act  also  prohibits  interstate  commerce  in  the  dead  bodies  of 
animals  or  birds,  or  parts  thereof,  when  killed  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  the  State  or  if  the  State  prohibits  their  export.  All 
birds,  or  parts  thereof,  when  brought  into  a  State  are  subject 
to  the  same  laws  that  would  apply  in  case  the  birds  were  pro- 
duced in  that  State.  This  act  is  designed  to  supplement  State 
laws  and  to  give  a  double  check  to  transportation  of  game  by 
bringing  to  bear  on  each  transaction  the  laws  of  the  State. 

Besides  the  protection  afforded  by  game  laws,  there  is  the 
method  of  establishing  preserves  where  birds  are  either  given 
complete  immunity  from  slaughter  or  are  carefully  guarded 
from  excessive  depletion.  The  associations  of  wealthy  sports- 
men that  exist  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  where  they 
control  much  land,  look  after  their  game  very  carefully,  as 
has  already  been  stated.  Such  preserves  are  maintained  at 
so  large  an  expense  that  they  can  never  become  numerous 
enough  to  be  of  appreciable  assistance  in  repopulating  the 
woods.  But  it  is  perfectly  feasible  for  owners  of  adjoining 
farms,  if  they  are  so  minded,  to  combine  their  properties  into 
preserves  that  would  accomplish  everything.  A  tract  of  land 
comprising  ten  or  a  dozen  average  farms,  thus  set  apart  by 
mutual  consent  as  a  section  where  no  birds  should  be  killed, 
would  become  a  reservoir,  the  overflow  from  which  would 
afford  excellent  sport  in  the  surrounding  region.  Birds  would 
not  only  become  more  abundant,  but  the  danger  of  extermi- 
nation would  be  out  of  the  question. 

In  Bird  Lore,  June,  1901,  Mr.  Willard  G.  Van  Name,  of  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  gives  an  account  of  a  preserve  of  this  sort 
that  has  proved  all  that  was  hoped  for  it.  This  preserve, 
comprising  between  one  and  two  square  miles  of  farm-  and 
woodland,  is  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Haven.  It  was  organized 


288  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

by  Mr.  E.  Knight  Sperry,  of  that  city.  Mr.  Sperry  first 
obtained  permission  to  try  the  experiment  from  the  seven  or 
eight  owners  of  the  land,  on  condition  that  neither  he  nor 
they  should  shoot  there,  and  that  he  should  bear  all  expenses, 
while  they  were  to  enforce  prohibition.  The  chief  expense 
was  for  signs  forbidding  shooting.  A  few  quail  Avere  turned 
loose  each  year,  though  it  is  now  thought  that  was  unneces- 
sary. Ruffed  grouse  were  left  to  increase  as  they  could. 
Small  patches  of  wheat  or  buckwheat  were  sown  to  keep  the 
quail  from  starving  or  wandering  in  search  of  food  during  the 
winter.  Almost  immediately  an  increase  was  noticed,  and 
soon  the  birds  became  very  abundant  on  the  preserve,  and 
now  there  is  good  shooting  on  the  neighboring  farms  where 
formerly  very  few  birds  were  to  be  had.  The  land-owners 
are  so  well  pleased  with  the  plan  that  none  have  withdrawn 
from  the  compact,  although  they  are  all  at  liberty  to  do  so  at 
any  time. 

It  is  well  known  that  both  quail  and  grouse  prefer  to  live 
either  on  or  near  cultivated  land,  where  food  is  abundant. 
Farmers  might  easily  combine  in  this  way,  thereby  affording 
better  sport  for  themselves,  or  increasing  the  attractions  of 
their  town  for  outside  parties  who  for  the  sake  of  the  birds 
would  be  glad  to  come  and  pay  well  for  shooting  privileges. 
In  many  sections  the  city  boarder  has  become  the  farmer's 
best  source  of  revenue.  If  he  will  protect  his  grouse  and 
quail,  he  may  sell  them  in  the  brush  for  more  than  he  could 
realize  by  killing  them  himself  and  putting  them  in  market, 
and  at  the  same  time  extend  "his  boarding  season  well  into 
autumn.  A  city  sportsman,  whose  time  has  a  value,  is  glad 
to  pay  for  a  certainty  of  finding  game.  Although  game  is  held 
to  be  the  property  of  the  State  rather  than  of  the  individual 
owning  the  land  that  supports  it,  he  may  still  be  the  sole  bene- 
ficiary if  he  will.  He  must  obey  the  statutes,  even  on  his  own 
land,  but  he  can  profit  in  due  season  by  his  own  restraint,  for 
no  one  else  can  trespass  on  his  premises  if  he  forbids  it. 


289 


290  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

To  review  this  matter :  The  stock  of  wild  fowl  has  reached 
a  low  ebb  through  a  long-continued  and  ever-increasing  per- 
secution and  an  ever-narrowing  breeding  range.  Two  differ- 
ent motive  forces  have  pushed  the  persecution, — the  market 
and  an  inborn  love  of  hunting,  the  one  commercial — a  mat- 
of  dollars  and  cents — the  other  a  natural  instinct.  The  one 
gratifies  the  few  that  earn  a  meagre  living  by  hunting  and  the 
few  rich  enough  to  buy ;  the  other  may  be  enjoyed  by  every 
man  able  to  leave  his  place  of  business  if  he  so  elects.  The 
one  breeds  dyspepsia,  the  other  vigorous  health.  The  one 
benefits  classes,  the  other  masses.  Nothing  in  Euclid  is 
more  clearly  demonstrated  than  that  their  combined  drain  is 
altogether  too  great  to  be  borne.  One  of  them  must  be  put 
out  of  action.  Which?  We  have  seen  that  several  States 
have  decided  already.  Selling  and  killing  for  sale  are  pro- 
hibited. When  our  uniform  laws  are  come  to  pass,  that 
clause  will  be  a  part  of  them.  Moreover,  the  number  of 
birds  that  may  be  taken  in  a  day  will  be  fixed  low.  Then 
spring  will  be  a  close  season  everywhere,  and  the  open  season 
will  not  be  longer  than  two,  or  possibly  three,  months,  vary- 
ing in  time  according  to  the  habits  of  the  different  species. 

But  the  main  thing,  after  all,  is  popular  education  along 
this  line.  There  is  a  contagion  in  reform.  That  infection  has 
begun  is  evident.  All  having  the  preservation  of  birds  at 
heart  must  help  spread  it  by  precept  and  example.  By  care 
the  stock  may  be  replenished  and  the  birds  indefinitely  pre- 
served,— a  continued  source  of  benefit  to  us  and  a  worthy 
legacy  to  posterity. 

*  Aside  from  schools  there  are  certain  organizations  through 
which  the  idea  of  bird  protection  is  promulgated.  Of  these 
the  American  Ornithologists'  Union,  which  is  devoted  to  all 
phases  of  bird  work,  is  the  most  comprehensive.  Its  member- 
ship embraces  many  able  men  who  have  contributed  liberally 
to  current  literature  upon  this  subject.  The  many  branches 
of  the  Audubon  Society,  especially  arrayed  against  the  use  of 


71££*4 

! 


.'  b: : 


•2- : 


291 


292  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

bird  skins  and  feathers  for  millinery  purposes,  is  closer  in 
touch  with  the  people  than  any  other  organization  of  its  nature, 
and  as  an  educational  factor  is  of  prime  importance.  The 
League  of  American  Sportsmen,  although,  as  its  name  implies, 
devoted  particularly  to  the  protection  of  game,  also  champions 
the  protection  of  birds.  These  societies  have  dealt  largely 
with  the  ethical  and  aesthetic  side  of  the  question. 

The  economic  side  has  been  ably  discussed  in  a  number 
of  bulletins  and  Yearbook  articles  from  the  Division  of  Biologi- 
cal Survey  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
which  have  been  freely  circulated. 

Thus,  while  it  appears  that  the  decrease  in  birds  is  real  and 
the  causes  numerous  and  difficult  to  combat,  there  is  a  defi- 
nite movement  against  it,  which,  although  late,  is  now  gaining 
strength  and  breadth  and  seems  in  a  fair  way  to  arrive  at  a 
successful  issue.  In  some  regions  very  encouraging  results 
have  already  been  reported. 


GREAT  HORNED  OWL. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 
PREVENTING  THE  DEPREDATIONS  OF  BIRDS. 

ABOUT  the  only  real  interest  the  average  farmer,  takes  in 
birds  relates  to  methods  of  preventing  the  depredations  of  the 
few  species  that  are  inclined  to  share  with  him  the  fruits  of 
his  labors.  He  accepts  their  benefits,  as  he  does  those  of 
rain  and  sunshine,  as  a  matter  of  course.  He  is  free  to  avail 
himself  of  any  or  all  natural  products  that  are  favorable  to  his 
\velfare,  so  far  as  lies  in  his  power,  and  also  to  avoid  such  as 
work  him  harm,  to  the  same  extent.  While  he  may  not  ex- 
hibit a  proper  spirit  of  gratitude  for  past  favors,  when  he  pre- 
vents robins  and  cedar-birds  from  taking  his  cherries  he  is  at 
least  practical.  The  knowledge  that  crows  and  blackbirds  de- 
vour multitudes  of  insects  is  poor  consolation  for  a  ruined 
crop.  When  such  birds  are  made  to  desist  from  spoliation, 
not  only  is  the  harvest  insured,  but  the  birds  are  thus  made 
to  destroy  more  insects,  thereby  turning  threatened  injury 
into  real  advantage.  To  protect  crops  from  the  ravages  of 
birds  is  quite  proper  and  legitimate. 

It  is  easy  for  one  who  realizes  the  great  value  of  birds  to 
let  his  gratitude  get  the  better  of  his  common  sense,  particu- 
larly if  he  owns  nothing  that  birds  interfere  with.  "  There  is 
a  time  to  every  purpose.'1  The  time  to  show  gratitude  to 
birds  is  when  they  need  it.  The  man  who  values  birds  be- 
cause they  are  useful  to  him,  or  because  he  loves  them,  is 
ready  to  feed  them  when  food  is  scarce,  to  offer  them  nesting 
facilities,  and  to  protect  them  against  their  enemies.  But  when 
his  fields  are  burdened  with  grasshoppers  there  is  no  need  for 
him  to  allow  robins  in  his  berry-patch  or  blackbirds  in  his 
corn. 

Birds  may  well  be  classed  as  natural  resources.  From  this 

293 


294  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

view-point  they  are  not  unlike  seaweed  thrown  upon  a  beach  or 
a  muck-pit  on  a  farm.  They  all  have  a  real  value  if  utilized, 
though  none  of  them  are  absolutely  essential  to  a  fair  crop. 
It  is  not  less  a  sign  of  thrift  when  a  farmer  tries  to  get  the 
most  out  of  the  birds  about  him  than  it  is  when  he  tries  to 
get  the  most  out  of  his  bog  or  beach.  It  is  true,  birds  will 
work  to  his  betterment  though  he  ignore  them,  while  such 
resources  as  muck  and  seaweed '  yield  nothing  without  his 
attention.  But  it  is  not  less  true  that  intelligent  effort  is  as 
sure  of  reward  in  bird-husbandry  as  it  is  when  applied  to 
resources  that  are  wholly  potential  without  such  effort. 

No  prudent  farmer  will  leave  the  birds  out  of  his  plans. 
He  will  attract  them  by  ministering  to  their  needs.  In  his 
dealings  with  them  he  will  be  guided  by  the  same  motives  that 
direct  his  actions  towards  his  domestic  animals.  His  cattle  and 
his  poultry  are  fed,  housed,  arid  slaughtered,  all  for  his  per- 
sonal benefit.  So  long  as  his  animals  are  more  profitable  liv- 
ing than  dead,  he  cares  for  them  ;  when  they  are  fit  for  market, 
or  vicious,  he  kills  them  as  unhesitatingly  as  he  has  nurtured 
them.  There  is  no  reason  why  this  same  sort  of  management 
should  not  be  applied  to  birds.  An  unprofitable  oriole  should 
be  killed  as  promptly  as  an  unprofitable  sheep.  But  sheep 
are  not  slaughtered  for  their  sins  or  their  infirmities  so  long  as 
they  are  of  more  value  living  than  dead.  We  do  not  kill  our 
animals  for  faults  we  can  correct.  The  flower-loving  house- 
wife fences  round  her  posy-bed,  covers  it  with  brush,  or  even 
applies  socks  to  the  feet  of  the  chronic  scratchers  among  her 
fowls  sooner  than  take  off  their  heads  for  unearthing  seeds. 
When  birds  are  turned  away  from  marauding  by  some  harm- 
less device,  not  only  are  their  lives  spared  for  good  work  in 
the  future,  but  they  are  often  turned  to  better  business  at  the 
moment. 

In  the  study  of  ways  and  means  for  preventing  the  depre- 
dations of  birds,  their  ordinary  utility  should  never  be-  lost 
sight  of.  That  should  be  the  basis  upon  which  all  plans  for 


PREVENTING   THE   DEPREDATIONS   OF    BIRDS.          295 

their  regulation  are  formulated.  Moreover,  the  sins  of  the 
individual  ought  not  to  be  saddled  on  the  whole  of  its  race,  as 
is  too  often  done.  Because  one  red-shouldered  hawk,  for  in- 
stance, comes  to  the  yard  and  carries  away  chickens,  the  next 
ninety-nine,  which  are  worthy  pursuers  of  mice  and  similar 
vermin,  should  not  be  sacrificed  for  the  sins  of  the  guilty  one. 
This  is  one«of  the  gravest  errors  to  which  birds  are  -subjected. 
When  people  learn  to  discriminate  as  carefully  between  good 
and  bad  wild  birds  as  they  do  between  good  and  bad  domes- 
tic birds,  they  will  have  learned  an  important  lesson,  both  for 
themselves  and  for  their  feathered  benefactors.  No  person 
is  qualified  to  deal  repressively  with  birds  who  has  not  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  their  habits.  Possessed  of  such  knowl- 
edge, one  is  able  to  work  intelligently  to  avail  himself  of  their 
benefits  in  fullest  measure  and  to  give  in  return  the  least  pos- 
sible compensation. 

The  number  of  birds  that  are  harmful,  including  those  but 
partially  so,  is  so  small  that  it  would  seem  an  easy  matter  to 
control  them.  A  few  species  destroy  grain,  a  few  injure  trees, 
a  few  purloin  fruit,  and  a  few  steal  chickens.  These  culprits, 
all  told,  are  but  a  small  fraction  of  our  avifauna.  But  though 
the  species  that  need  regulating  are  few,  several  of  them  are 
so  numerous  individually  that  the  damage  done  is  sometimes 
serious.  The  worst  offenders  are  those  that  invade  grain- 
fields, — that  is  to  say,  crows,  blackbirds,  bobolinks,  jays,  and 
their  kin. 

As  grain  thieves,  crows  are  most  notorious  of  all,  from  the 
fact  that  they  are  more  uniformly  distributed,  and  also  because 
they  pay  particular  attention  to  sprouting  grain.  Their  supe- 
rior size  enables  them  to  pull  up  the  planted  seeds,  and 
correspondingly  large  quantities  are  required  to  satisfy  their 
hunger.  Moreover,  crows  are  in  a  class  by  themselves  on 
account  of  their  cunning.  By  experience  they  have  learned 
to  work  on  the  sly  and  to  avoid  the  machinations  which  men 
would  employ  to  destroy  them. 


296  BIRDS   IN   THEIR  RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

If  crows  were  less  wary,  so  many  would  fall  victims  to  the 
wrath  of  planters  that  their  extermination  in  the  cultivated 
portions  of  our  country  would  soon  come  to  pass.  They 
come  nearer  to  living  by  their  wits  than  any  other  birds  we 
know.  However,  their  sagacity  is  not  useful  to  them  alone ; 
it  makes  it  possible  for  us  to  avoid  their  villanies  by  exciting 
their  suspicions.  Thus,  on  the  whole,  we  have  reason  to  be 
glad  that  crows  are  as  wise  as  they  are,  for  we  know  that 
their  annual  consumption  of  insects  is  enormous,  and  that  it 
is  unquestionably  better  to  keep  them  away  from  the  fields 
a  week  or  two  in  seed-time  than  to  destroy  them,  and  thus 
to  lose  their  assistance. 

We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  if  farmers  dealt  with  crows 
as  intelligently  as  crows  deal  with  farmers  there  would  be 
vastly  less  heard  about  the  injury  they  do.  The  boy  who  put 
his  finger  to  the  dim  edge  of  a  humming  buzz-saw,  with  the 
remark  "  It  looks  as  if  it  were  there,"  was  accustomed  there- 
after to  rely  more  on  vision.  The  man  who  expects  wind- 
mills, scarecrows,  old  newspapers,  bottles,  and  sheet  tin  to 
protect  his  field,  when  he  has  seen  them  fail  year  after  year, 
needs  some  such  lesson  as  the  boy  had  to  make  him  more 
acute.  u  Br'er  Rabbit"  is  scarcely  more  at  home  "  in  a  briar- 
patch"  than  crows  among  these  harmless  objects,  with  which 
they  have  been  acquainted  from  youth  up,  and  which  were 
never  known  to  harm  anything. 

They  soon  learn  what  is  dangerous  and  what  is  not.  If  one 
is  shot  or  poisoned  or  caught,  his  comrades  remember  his 
misfortune  and  thereafter  avoid  the  place  of  its  occurrence. 
They  are  so  apprehensive  of  danger  that  they  seldom  alight  near 
one  that  is  dead,  though  it  may  never  have  been  a  companion. 

Crows  are  accustomed  to  do  most  of  their  foraging  very 
early  in  the  morning  and  on  rainy  days.  The  farmer  who 
neglects  to  traverse  his  corn-land  at  these  times  is  sure  to 
rue  it.  They  will  take  advantage  of  a  dense  fog,  and  attack 
fields  they  would  hardly  dare  fly  over  in  good  weather. 


PREVENTING   THE   DEPREDATIONS   OF    RIRDS.          997 

Ordinarily,  a  field  covered  with  a  network  of  twine  strung 
on  poles  will  not  be  molested.  The  twine  is  usually  strung 
along  a  few  feet  from  the  ground,  at  intervals  of  two  or  three 
rods. 

A  dead  crow  thrown  down  upon  the  ground  or  suspended 
in  the  air  is  also  almost  certain  to  deter  them  from  venturing 
near. 

Poultry  placed  in  boxes  heavily  slatted,  so  that  the  presence 
of  something  alive  will  be  manifested  without  exposing  the 
real  nature  of  the  contents,  make  very  good  scarecrows.  Two 
or  three  boxes  to  the  acre,  one  fowl  in  each,  are  sufficient. 

Another  method,  one  that  appeals  to  taste  instead  of  sight, 
is  to  flavor  the  seed  before  planting  with  coal-tar  or  oil-of-tar, 
which  crows  dislike.  The  corn  is  first  soaked  in  water,  and 
then  enough  tar  or  tar-oil  is  stirred  in  to  give  each  kernel  a 
thin  coating.  Plaster  is  then  added  to  render  the  corn  more 
easily  handled.  Objections  to  this  method  are :  It  does  not 
admit  the  use  of  a  planter  and  it  retards  germination.  Though 
usually  effectual,  this  method  is  said  not  to  be  infallible. 

Fields  that  are  isolated,  so  there  is  no  possibility  of  their 
being  visited  by  domestic  animals,  may  be  protected  to  a  cer- 
tainty by  scattering  broadcast  a  little  grain  that  has  been 
soaked  in  water  in  which  some  strychnine  has  been  dissolved. 
Poisoned  grain  should  be  carefully  dried  before  being  put  out, 
in  order  to  make  it  appear  natural  to  the  critical  invaders. 
One  or  two  killed,  or  even  made  sick,  will  settle  the  crow 
question  for  that  year. 

Not  a  few  farmers  are  accustomed  to  scatter  small  quanti- 
ties of  grain — not  poisoned — in  their  fields  two  or  three  times 
a  week  during  the  period  when  crows  are  troublesome. 
They  say  the  crows  thus  obtain  all  the  grain  they  want  with- 
out pulling  up  any.  They  also  claim  that  the  crows  pay  well 
for  the  grain  by  destroying  cutworms  and  other  injurious 
larvae  that  infest  the  ground.  With  highly  moral  crows  this 
plan  is  more  philosophical  than  any  we  know.  But  some 


298  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

crows  are  depraved.  We  have  even  known  a  tame  crow, 
reared  in  opulence,  exposed  to  the  influence  of  honest  prin- 
ciples, away  from  all  of  its  kind,  a  crow  that  disdained  corn 
as  a  food,  and  yet  which,  constrained  by  a  hereditary  taint  of 
evil,  was  accustomed  to  pull  it  right  and  left,  only  to  throw  it 
down  again.  He  began  to  pull  corn  before  he  was  a  year  old. 
After  this  experience  we  are  not  surprised  to  learn  that  crows 
sometimes  pull  corn  when  there  is  plenty  above  ground. 

There  is  certainly  more  difference  in  crows  than  appears 
as  they  fly  over.  Schemes  that  serve  to  keep  them  from 
molesting  corn  in  one  place  are  frequently  useless  in  another. 
Moreover,  it  sometimes  happens  that  a  remedy  employed  with 
success  year  after  year  in  a  given  locality  suddenly  becomes 
ineffectual.  All  naturalists  who  have  had  occasion  to  examine 
a  large  series  of  specimens  of  any  sort  of  organism  are  well 
aware  that  there  is  always  considerable  variation  among  them 
in  size,  proportion,  or  color,  as  may  be.  Now  it  surely  is  not 
preposterous  to  suppose  there  are  psychic  variations  as  well 
as  bodily  variations.  Variations  in  size  or  proportion  of  parts, 
when  associated  with  environment, — climate,  soil,  food,  etc., — 
are  sufficient  to  account  for  geographical  races  or  even  species. 
By  analogy  it  is  not  difficult  to  set  up  a  working  hypothesis 
to  account  for  the  occasional  failure  of  devices  that  previously 
had  been  successful.  The  crows  that  have  inhabited  a  given 
locality  for  generations,  we  will  suppose,  have  a  particular 
fear  of  the  twine  put  up  on  corn-land,  suspecting  it  to  be  a 
kind  of  trap  for  their  entanglement.  Another  race  in  another 
region,  from  a  less  painful  experience  with  traps,  or  with  enough 
intelligence  to  see  there  is  no  danger  in  it,  or  with  too  little 
to  suspect  any,  regards  twine  with  indifference.  Again,  an 
old  fear  may  wear  off  with  long  familiarity  or  be  removed  by 
an  improved  temperament,  while  a  fatal  lesson  or  an  increas- 
ing wariness  of  purely  organic  origin  would  account  for  a  new 
fear. 

Whatever  may  be  the  philosophy  of  the  ways  of  the  crow 


PREVENTING   THE   DEPREDATIONS   OF   BIRDS.          299 

there  is  no  doubt  that  he  will  bear  contemplative  observation. 
Any  person  interested  in  agriculture  who  will  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  habits  of  this  bird  will  be  convinced  that 
it  is  emphatically  worth  while  to  make  every  effort  to  avoid 
its  depredations  by  harmless  means. 

Where  granivorous  birds  other  than  crows  have  injurious 
habits,  eternal  vigilance  appears  to  be  the  only  means  of  de- 
fence. Jays  are  occasionally  thievish  when  corn  is  ripe. 
Blackbirds  pick  up  newly-sown  grain  and  also  plunder  the 
matured  crop  during  their  autumnal  movements  when  they 
are  in  flocks.  Bobolinks  are  mischievous  only  in  the  rice- 
fields,  but  there  they  are  so  bad  as  to  be  absolute  pests. 

Fortunately,  in  most  localities  none  of  these  birds  do  appre- 
ciable harm.  Only  fields  adjacent  to  woodland  are  raided  by 
jays.  Blackbirds  make  their  head-quarters  in  marshes  during 
spring  and  summer,  and  therefore  the  range  of  their  operations 
Is  restricted.  In  sections  visited  by  the  immense  flocks  that 
assemble  to  spend  fall  and  winter  together  there  is  always 
more  or  less  complaint  against  them.  But  it  is  not  always 
safe,  when  blackbirds  are  in  a  grain-field,  to  infer  they  are 
doing  harm.  We  know  an  instance  in  which  a  farmer  killed 
numbers  of  them,  fully  believing  them  to  be  eating  his  grain, 
but  when  their  stomachs  were  opened  it  was  found  they  had 
taken  nothing  but  insects.  It  is  generally  true  that  the  drafts 
made  by  any  of  these  smaller  grain-eating  birds  are  more  than 
compensated  for  by  the  good  they  do.  For  this  reason  they 
should  never  be  molested  unless  it  is  certain  they  are  eating 
grain. 

None  of  these  birds  are  susceptible  to  any  but  human  scare-, 
crows.  Images,  traps,  cages,  dead  of  their  own  kind,  have  no 
terrors  for  them.  Half  a  flock  may  be  shot  down  one  day, 
and  the  next  the  surviving  half  is  as  likely  to  visit  that  field  as 
any  other.  They  do  not  appear  to  have  an  iota  of  the  keen- 
ness that  characterizes  the  crow.  This  inferiority  in  mental 
capacity  is  an  unsurmountable  obstacle  to  avoiding  their  dep- 


300  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

redations  by  harmless  means,  except  at  an  attending  expense 
too  great  to  be  borne  by  small  farmers.  Where  large  tracts 
are  under  cultivation  it  is  feasible  to  employ  boys  to  stay  in 
the  fields  while  there  is  danger  from  birds,  to  keep  them  off, 
provided  boys  are  to  be  had. 

On  some  of  the  rice-plantations  in  the  South  men  and  boys 
are  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition  and  kept  in  the  field 
during  the  migration  season.  They  shoot  to  kill  and  to  frighten, 
to  give  flocks  on  the  ground  a  good  send-off,  and  to  keep  those 
in  the  air  from  alighting.  A  constant  fusillade  is  kept  up  for 
weeks.  It  is  an  expensive  method,  but  nobody  has  been  able 
to  show  a  better  one. 

In  view  of  all  that  we  know  of  the  economic  qualities  of 
these  birds,  the  wise  course  appears  to  be  to  molest  them  only 
when  beyond  a  doubt  they  are  in  mischief.  An  entire  flock 
will  leave  a  field  in  as  much  haste,  go  as  far,  and  remain  away 
as  long  as  half  of  it ;  so,  unless  there  be  malice  to  satisfy,  a 
blank  shot  is  as  good  as  a  full  charge.  The  only  advantage  of 
putting  a  gun  in  a  watchman's  hand  is  to  enable  him  to  cover 
more  ground.  The  birds  are  as  afraid  of  him  without  a  gun 
as  with  one,  the  only  difference  being  that  they  are^sooner 
aware  of  his  presence. 

The  chief  purloiners  of  small  fruits  are  cedar-birds  and 
robins.  As  has  already  been  shown  in  Chapter  III.,  a  large 
number  of  birds  eat  fruit,  but  the  majority  are  satisfied  with 
the  wild  varieties  that  grow  in  their  accustomed  haunts.  None 
of  our  Northern  birds  feed  so  largely  upon  soft  fruits  as  these 
two,  at  least  not  in  spring  and  early  summer. 

Cedar-birds  are  essentially  frugivorous,  though  they  catch 
many  beetles  and  other  flying  insects,  particularly  in  spring, 
when  there  is  not  much  fruit  to  be  had.  They  go  in  flocks, 
and  when  they  come  to  good  feeding,  stay  by  as  long  it  lasts. 
They  are  nearly  indifferent  to  man,  being  neither  wary  nor 
familiar.  High  living  is  their  main  object  in  life.  Berries  in 
a  suburban  garden  or  on  an  uninhabited  mountain  are  quite 


PREVENTING   THE   DEPREDATIONS   OF   BIRDS.          301 

the  same  to  them.  But,  though  cedar-birds  do  not  hesitate  to 
visit  populous  quarters  when  the  best  fruit  is  there,  as  soon 
as  wild  lands  come  into  competition  they  are  ready  to  with- 
draw. 

The  case  with  robins  is  somewhat  different.  They  rely  on 
man  in  a  measure.  Their  line  of  distribution  has  extended 
very  much  according  to  his.  They  choose  to  build  their  nests 
in  orchards  and  to  seek  their  living  on  cultivated  ground.  On 
small  farms,  in  country  villages,  and  in  city  suburbs  they  are 
most  abundant.  Berries  constitute  more  than  half  their  nor- 
mal fare. 

When  orchards  are  occupied  by  frugivorous  birds,  fruit  is 
bound  to  suffer  unless  the  ratio  of  fruit  to  birds  is  very  large. 
It  is  a  fact  that  most  complaints  against  robins  and  cedar-birds 
come,  not  from  the  extensive  producers,  but  rather  from  those 
who  cultivate  small  gardens  to  supply  their  own  tables.  Early 
varieties  of  strawberries  and  cherries  suffer  most  largely,  for 
the  reason  that  wild  fruits  are  not  yet  matured.  Many  an 
anticipated  treat  on  home-grown  berries  has  been  defeated  by 
robins  and  cedar-birds.  Shooting  is  frequently  resorted  to. 
Brooding  birds  are  slain,  foliage,  fruit,  and  branches  are  punc- 
tured, yet  the  fruit  is  neither  saved  nor  paid  for. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  cherry-trees  decked  with  bright- 
colored  cloths.  The  birds  reconnoitre  a  little,  but  very  shortly 
the  gay  trimmings  only  serve  to  garnish  the  feast.  We  have 
known  a  stuffed  hawk  placed  in  a  tree  to  keep  them  away  for 
a  day,  but  no  longer.  The  only  sure  way  of  preventing  the 
depredations  of  these  birds  is  to  cover  the  fruit-bearing  plants 
with  netting.  Of  course  this  is  practicable  only  in  case  of 
small  quantities  or  rare  varieties.  Any  sort  of  netting,  coarse 
mesh  or  fine,  will  answer  the  purpose. 

Where  there  is  plenty  of  land,  there  is  no  way  so  satisfac- 
tory, on  the  whole,  as  to  set  out  other  berry  plants,  such  as 
the  Russian  mulberry,  for  instance,  which  are  ornamental 
when  in  bloom,  make  good  shade,  and  will  be  patronized  by 


302  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

birds,  to  the  relief  of  the  garden.  By  this  means  it  is  possible 
to  retain  both  birds  and  berries. 

Of  all  bird  invasions  none  are  quite  so  exasperating  as  those 
of  the  rapacious  species,  the  owls  and  hawks,  which  not  only 
rob  us,  but  lacerate  and  kill  helpless,  harmless  creatures 
which,  by  their  dependence  upon  our  care  and  bounty,  have 
a  share  of  our  affection.  The  loss  is  vexatious  ;  the  cruelty  is 
maddening. 

Owls  do  relatively  little  harm,  and  there  is  really  no  excuse 
for  permitting  them  to  do  that  little,  for  it  is  only  necessary  to 
make  fowls  roost  indoors  to  avoid  it  altogether.  No  such 
simple  means  can  be  employed  to  prevent  the  raids  of  hawks. 
When  pushed  by  hunger,  hawks  have  no  fear  of  man  or  any 
of  his  inventions.  They  dash  down  and  clutch  a  chicken  in 
a  village  street  with  as  much  assurance  as  if  it  were  in  a 
secluded  meadow.  While  it  is  apparently  out  of  the  question 
to  keep  hawks  away  by  fear,  at  least  of  inanimate  objects,  it  is 
possible  to  employ  to  our  advantage  the  hatred  or  fear  which 
other  birds  have  for  them. 

Kingbirds  never  allow  a  hawk  to  pass  them  in  peace. 
There  is  no  better  insurance  against  hawks  than  a  family  of 
kingbirds  located  near  the  poultry-yard.  An  apple-tree  in- 
clined to  grow  scraggy,  if  left  untrimmed,  is  likely  to  prove  the 
most  profitable  tree  in  the  orchard,  for  it  is  almost  sure  to  be 
selected  by  a  kingbird  for  a  nest-tree.  A  bird-house,  when 
tenanted  by  a  family  of  purple  martins,  will  answer  the  same 
purpose.  Martins  have  a  hatred  of  hawks  nearly  equal  to 
that  of  kingbirds.  A  well-built  martin-house,  one  that  suits 
these  rather  exacting  birds,  will  prove  a  good  investment  in 
any  farm-yard. 

Some  poultrymen  keep  a  few  guinea-fowls  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  alarming  hawks  by  their  harsh  clatter.  Like  turkeys, 
the  days  of  their  wild  state  are  not  so  remote  that  they  have 
lost  their  native  ability  to  discern  enemies  afar  off.  They 
notice  the  approach  of  a  hawk  long  before  ordinary  fowls,  and 


PREVENTING   THE   DEPREDATIONS   OF   BIRDS.          303 

raise  such  a  din  of  voice  that  it  is  usually  deterred  from  com- 
ing very  near. 

Among  people  in  general  there  is  perhaps  a  greater  need  of 
education  concerning  hawks  and  owls  than  concerning  any 
other  group  of  injurious  birds,  or  even  all  of  them  put  together. 
We  have  only  one  owl  and  three  or  four  hawks  that  are  not 
more  beneficial  than  otherwise.  This  being  the  case,  we  see 
the  folly  of  setting  a  bounty  on  the  heads  of  the  whole  family, 
as  has  been  done  at  various  times  in  several  States.  Such  a 
bounty  takes  money  from  both  pockets  and  throws  it  to  the 
winds.  If  farmers  knew  the  troublesome  hawks  by  sight  and 
sound,  a  little  scouting  in  the  spring  would  enable  them  to 
ascertain  whether  any  were  breeding  in  the  neighborhood. 
The  sharp-shinned  hawk,  Cooper's  hawk,  and  the  goshawk, 
the  three  species  that,  are  most  injurious,  are  all  easily  discov- 
ered where  they  have  a  nest  or  intend  to  build  one.  Except 
while  migrating,  these  hawks  are  mairily  confined  to  a  limited 
area  adjacent  to  their  breeding-places,  and  when  these  places 
are  known,  a  steel  trap  put  in  the  nest  may  generally  be  de- 
pended upon  to  secure  both  birds.  If  one  is  careful  to  shoot 
the  male  first,  a  gun  will  accomplish  the  same  result. 

When  a  hawk  belonging  to  a  species  generally  beneficial 
falls  into  bad  habits,  there  is  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  plan 
for  the  destruction  of  that  particular  bird  by  the  best  means 
available. 

The  occasional  lesser  depredations  of  birds  are  generally 
too  slight  to  deserve  notice.  Orioles  take  a  few  peas,  gros- 
beaks and  grouse  nip  off  buds  from  certain  trees  in  winter, 
two  or  three  of  the  woodpeckers  are  fond  of  the  tender  inner 
bark  of  trees,  and  sometimes  are  guilty  of  tasting  apples  and 
oranges.  None  of  these  birds  can  be  regulated.  If  by  chance 
they  become  unbearable,  the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  kill  them. 
However,  as  they  are  ordinarily  useful,  such  a  step  should 
never  be  taken  without  full  assurance  that  it  is  necessary. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 
ENCOURAGING   THE    PRESENCE   OF   BIRDS. 

To  those  who  desire  the  presence  of  birds,  either  for  the 
good  they  do  or  for  love  of  them,  methods  for  their  encour- 
agement will  be  of  interest.  Birds  select  their  habitat  with 
reference  to  food  or  nesting  privileges.  Enemies  may  drive 
them  away.  With  this  much  in  mind  it  is  not  difficult  for  one 
acquainted  with  bird  ways  to  devise  means  for  attracting  them. 
But  in  the  first  place  it  will  be  well  to  introduce  evidence  to 
show  that  birds  appreciate  conveniences  when  they  find  them. 
W.  Ward  Fowler ]  relates  how  a  neighbor  with  only  two  or 
three  acres  of  land  induced  fifty-three  pairs  of  birds,  exclusive 
of  swallows  and  martins,  to  nest  there  in  one  month.  In  the 
heart  of  a  city  the  writers  know  a  shrubby  garden,  closed  to 
cats  and  boys,  which  large  numbers  of  birds  visit  on  their 
migrations.  Rare  warblers,  which  many  an  observer  has 
never  seen  in  that  region,  visit  that  spot  almost  every  year. 

That  birds  visit  orchards,  out-buildings,  and  door-yards  in 
winter  for  such  odd  bits  of  food  as  they  may  obtain,  is  well 
known  by  all  who  live  in  the  country.  The  profit  that  may 
be  derived  from  feeding  them  is  not  so  well  known.  Mr.  E.  H. 
Forbush 2  gives  an  account  of  how  birds  were  attracted  to  an 
old  neglected  orchard  in  the  town  of  Medford,  Massachusetts. 
Its  situation  was  favorable,  there  being  a  variety  of  wild  fruit- 
bearing  trees  and  shrubs,  and  a  small  piece  of  woodland 
consisting  chiefly  of  pines  near  by.  The  orchard  was  in  a 
dilapidated  condition  at  the  start,  and  for  three  years  efforts 
in  its  behalf  were  limited  to  pruning  the  trees  and  protecting 
them  from  the  ravages  of  the  canker-worms  and  tent-cater- 


1  A  Year  with  the  Birds,  p.  118. 

2  In  Bulletin  No.  2,  Mass.  Crop  Reports,  July,  1895. 
304 


Photographed  from  life  by  Ltr.  K.  W.  Shufeldl. 

ORCHARD    ORIOLE.       YOUNG. 


ENCOURAGING   THE   PRESENCE   OF   RIRDS.  305 

pillars  which  infested  the  district.  These  trees  revived  some- 
what under  this  treatment  and  began  to  bear  sparingly.  The 
fourth  year  nothing  was  done  towards  destroying  the  insect 
pests  or  in  any  way  interfering  with  their  increase.  In  the 
fall  of  this  year  immense  numbers  of  the  wingless  females  of 
the  fall  canker-worm  were  seen  ascending  the  trees  and  de- 
positing their  eggs.  The  eggs  of  the  tent-caterpillar  moth 
were  also  numerous  on  the  twigs,  giving  promise  of  great 
damage  to  the  foliage  of  the  old  orchard  on  the  following 
summer.  In  the  mean  time,  however,  pieces  of  meat,  bone, 
and  suet  were  suspended  from  the  trees,  and  chickadees, 
nuthatches,  woodpeckers,  and  brown  creepers  made  the  or- 
chard their  central  station.  The  chickadees,  which,  of  course, 
were  most  numerous,  became  so  tame  as  frequently  to  alight 
upon  the  person  having  the  experiment  in  charge,  and  occa- 
sionally took  food  from  his  hand.  Although  the  food  put  up 
for  the  birds  was  eaten  very  freely,  it  was  by  no  means  their 
sole  diet.  All  of  the  species  were  seen  to  devour  quantities 
of  canker-worm  eggs,  scale-lice,  and  various  hibernating  in- 
sects injurious  to  fruit-trees,  and  these  observations  were 
confirmed  by  the  examinations  of  stomachs.  They  were  also 
found  to  feed  upon  similar  insect  matter  in  the  neighboring 
woods. 

As  spring  advanced,  the  female  spring  canker-worm  moths 
came  up  from  the  ground  to  deposit  their  eggs  on  the  apple- 
trees.  Both  the  moths  and  their  eggs  were  devoured  in  great 
numbers.  As  insect  food  increased,  the  birds  paid  less  atten- 
tion to  the  meat.  When  the  breeding  season  arrived  the  or- 
chard was  mostly  deserted  by  the  winter  visitors,  to  be  occu- 
pied by  the  summer  residents,  though  both  chickadees  and 
woodpeckers  nested  in  the  vicinity.  Summer  exhibited  the 
results  of  the  experiment.  While  other  orchards  in  the  neigh- 
borhood were  infested  by  canker-worms  and  tent-caterpillars, 
this  one  was  comparatively  free  from  both.  That  the  damage 
done  here  by  canker-worms  was  far  less  than  elsewhere  must 

20 


306  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO    MAN. 

be  attributed  to  the  work  of  the  birds  that  were  fed  through 
the  winter.  With  a  single  exception  this  was  the  only  orchard 
in  the  vicinity  that  produced  fruit  that  year. 

Winter  birds  often  fare  very  hard ;  and  even  if  one  has  no 
orchard  that  needs  them,  it  is  an  act  of  kindness  to  supply 
them  with  bits  of  meat  or  suet  or  nuts  as  may  be  convenient. 
At  this  season,  when  animal  life  is  at  its  lowest  ebb,  it  is  a  joy 
to  see  the  sprightly  little  creatures  about  the  house.  They 
become  very  tame  and  not  infrequently  alight  upon  the  hand 
or  enter  an  open  window  for  tidbits.  Driven  by  hunger,  they 
make  forays  into  town,  and  thus  it  is  possible  for  those  living 
in  villages  or  city  suburbs  to  enjoy  winter  birds  if  they  wish. 

Chickadees,  nuthatches,  and  woodpeckers  are  sure  to  come 
if  refuse  meat  or  suet  is  tied  to  branches  of  trees,  and  Avhen 
once  baited  they  will  come  to  the  window-sill  for  supplies 
when  none  are  to  be  had  elsewhere,  so  there  is  the  best  possi- 
ble opportunity  to  study  them.  Blue-jays  will  come  to  an  ear 
of  Indian  corn  mounted  on  a  stick  in  the  orchard,  and  by  de- 
grees may  also  be  led  to  join  the  house-group.  Seed-eating 
birds,  such  as  j uncos,  tree-sparrows,  and  redpolls,  Avill  come  to 
the  door-yard  if  a  bundle  of  ragweed,  buckwheat,  a  few  sun- 
flower heads,  or  even  shallow  trays  of  small  seeds  are  put  out. 

In  order  to  furnish  tempting  food  for  summer  birds  there 
must  be  more  elaborate  preparations.  At  that  season  food  is 
so  plentiful  that  only  the  best  will  entice  them.  Even  the 
best  conditions  possible  Avill  fail  to  bring  them  within  such 
close  range  as  is  obtained  with  winter  birds.  Nevertheless, 
many  birds  will  come  if  one  will  provide  for  them.  About 
the  only  sort  of  food  that  can  be  offered  with  good  effect  is 
fruit ;  but  of  this  there  is  such  a  variety  both  in  kind  and  sea- 
son that  where  there  is  a  suitable  area  there  is  no  difficulty 
whatever  in  having  an  abundance  of  birds,  particularly  in 
spring  and  during  the  late  summer  and  autumn. 

In  the  selection  of  ornamental  shrubbery  for  village  and 
suburban  grounds  the  birds  should  be  remembered.  There 


ENCOURAGING   THE    PRESENCE   OF   BIRDS.  307 

are  many  native  shrubs  and  trees  that  are  decorative  and  at 
the  same  time  attractive  to  birds.  More  important  than  sum- 
mer food  is  a  good  site  for  a  nest,  and  by  providing  nesting- 
places  birds  that,  care  little  or  nothing  for  fruit  will  be 
attracted. 

It  is  well  known  that  certain  birds  usually  select  a  particu- 
lar kind  of  tree  for  their  nests.  For  instance,  goldfinches 
breed  in  maples  oftener  than  in  all  other  trees  put  together ; 
so  does  the  warbling  vireo.  Baltimore  orioles  prefer  elms. 


A  RETREAT   FOR   WINTER    BIRDS. 


Brown  thrashers  select  thorny  shrubs.     Many  birds  are  not 
particular  so  long  as  they  have  a  good  cover. 

Between  food  and  nest  habits,  he  who  would  plant  trees 
can  select  such  varieties  as  to  fill  his  grounds  with  beauty  and 
song.  Let  him  set  a  few  maples.  Vireos  will  peer  and  sing 
in  them  all  summer  long,  and  very  often  leave  their  pendent 
nests  as  a  reminder  of  summer  days,  when  the  branches  are 
bare  and  cold  winds  go  moaning  through  them.  Goldfinches 
are  sure  to  corne  in  August;  Robins  and  cedar-birds  fre- 
quently reside  there,  and  when  the  pine-finch  comes  down 


308  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

from  the  North  on  its  winter  visit,  the  buds  and  seeds  of  the 
maple  are  certain  to  receive  a  call.  The  elm,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  is  the  favorite  with  the  Baltimore  orioles,  but 
other  birds  are  fond  of  them  too.  Purple  finches  feed  upon 
the  opening  flower-buds  and  from  their  summit  pour  out  their 
spring-tide  of  song.  Crossbills  and  goldfinches  visit  them  in 
June  to  feast  upon  their  ripening  seeds,  and  when  the  seeds 
are  fallen,  all  sorts  of  seed-eaters  will  come  to  the  feast.  The 
mountain-ash  is  often  used  for  an  ornamental  tree.  Its  cymes 
of  red  berries  are  quite  as  attractive  to  robins  and  cedar-birds 
as  to  us.  The  dense  foliage  and  symmetrical  form  of  red 
cedars  render  them  excellent  for  solitary  places.  Spring  and 
fall,  robins,  cedar-birds,  purple  finches,  and  even  crows,  will 
come  for  their  berries.  Bird-cherry  and  black-cherry  and  mul- 
berry trees  set  along  the  margin  of  a  lot  will  bring  bluebirds, 
thrushes,  robins,  and  even  kingbirds  in  great  numbers,  and  at 
the  same  time  form  a  good  background  for  smaller  and  more 
ornamental  varieties.  A  thick  clump  of  evergreen  trees  in 
a  secluded  spot  will  certainly  be  occupied  at  night  and  become 
a  centre  of  radiation  for  matin  songs,  and  in  winter  cross- 
bills and  siskins  will  come  for  their  seeds.  A  remote  corner 
planted  with  stag-horn  sumac,  barberry,  catbrier,  and  black- 
berry bushes,  and  left  to  itself,  will  become  an  asylum  for  cat- 
birds, brown  thrashers,  and  many  other  birds  which  ordinarily 
nest  in  tangles.  The  bright  yellow  flowers  and  red  berries 
of  the  barberry  bush,  hanging  as  they  do  in  graceful  sprays, 
are  ornamental  anywhere.  The  berries  are  very  persistent, 
remaining  till  next  year's  crop  is  well  started,  and  are  devoured 
by  many  birds  when  other  food  is  scarce.  The  bay  or  wax- 
myrtle  bush  has  an  aromatic  fragrance  in  summer,  and  is  not 
unsightly  in  quiet  corners  with  its  winter  load  of  pallid  berries. 
A  small  plat  devoted  to  it  will  flood  the  grounds  with  myrtle 
warblers  every  fall  and  thereby  indirectly  prove  a  scourge  to 
insects,  as  these  birds  prefer  an  insect  diet  and  turn  to  bay- 
berries  only  when  insects  fail. 


ENCOURAGING   THE   PRESENCE   OF   BIRDS. 


309 


A  supply  of  water  in  shallow  receptacles  set  flush  with  the 
turf  will  fully  repay  all  it  costs  in  entertaining  views  of  avian 
lavatory  operations.  Robins  love  a  shower-bath  from  spray- 


ing fountains  on  hot  summer  afternoons,  and  where  lawns  are 
kept  close-cropped  and  well  watered,  robins  are  always  on 
hand  for  the  earthworms  that  come  to  the  moist  surface.  We 


DIAGRAM  OF  BIRD'S-BATH. 


have  known  robins  to  come  a  long  distance  to  get  food  for 
their  young  on  a  well-watered  lawn.  Mr.  Frank  M.  Chapman 
has  described l  an  excellent  bird's-bath  in  use  on  his  grounds, 

1  Bird  Lore,  vol.  iii.  p.  74. 


310  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

and  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  picture.  "It  is  made  of 
bricks  and  cement  and  in  cross-section  resembles  the  diagram 
on  the  previous  page. 

"  Boards  may  be  used  to  form  partitions,  which  should  be 
filled  with  earth.  The  plants  introduced  were  sagittaria,  iris, 
yellow  pond-lily,  wild  rice,  duckweed,  and  water-hyacinth. 
The  pond  is  filled  from  a  hose  and  replenished  as  evaporation 
requires."  This  bath  was  not  only  a  pretty  bit  of  adornment 
to  the  lawn,  but  also  proved  very  attractive  as  a  bathing-place 
for  birds. 

In  his  admirable  little  leaflet  on  "The  Birds  and  I,"  Pro- 
fessor L.  H.  Bailey  writes :  "  For  some  kinds  of  birds  we  can 
build  houses.  Some  of  the  many  forms  which  can  be  used 
are  shown  in  the  pictures.  Any  ingenious  boy  can  suggest  a 
dozen  other  patterns.  Although  birds  may  not  appreciate 
architecture,  it  is  well  to  make  the  houses  neat  and  tasty  by 
taking  pains  to  have  the  proportions  right.  The  floor-space 
in  each  compartment  should  be  not  less  than  five  by  six 
inches,  and  six  by  six  or  six  by  eight  may  be  better.  By 
cutting  the  boards  in  multiples  of  these  numbers,  one  can 
easily  make  a  house  with  several  compartments ;  for  there 
are  some  birds,  as  martins,  tree-swallows,  and  pigeons,  that 
like  to  live  in  families  or  colonies.  The  size  of  the  doorway 
is  important.  It  should  be  just  large  enough  to  admit  the 
bird.  A  larger  opening  not  only  looks  bad,  but  it  exposes 
the  inhabitants  to  dangers  of  cats  and  other  enemies.  Birds 
which  build  in  houses,  aside  from  doves  and  pigeons,  are 
bluebirds,  wrens,  tree-swallows,  martins,  and  sometimes  the 
chickadee.  For  the  wren  and  chickadee  the  opening  should 
be  an  inch-and-a-half  auger-hole,  and  for  the  others  it  should 
be  two  inches.  Only  one  opening  should  be  provided  for 
each  house  or  compartment.  A  perch  or  door-step  should  be 
provided  just  below  each  door.  It  is  here  that  the  birds  often 
stop  to  arrange  their  toilets ;  and  when  the  mistress  is  busy 
with  domestic  affairs  in-doors,  the  male  bird  often  sits  outside 


PROFESSOR   BAILEY  S   SUGGESTIONS   FOR   BIRD-HOUSES. 

(After  Cornell  University  Experiment  Station.) 


311 


312  BIRDS   IN   THEIR   RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

and  entertains  her  with  the  latest  neighborhood  gossip.  These 
houses  should  be  placed  on  poles  or  on  buildings  in  somewhat 
secluded  places.  Martins  and  tree-swallows  like  to  build  their 
nests  twenty-five  feet  or  more  above  the  ground,  but  the  other 
birds  usually  prefer  an  elevation  less  than  twelve  feet.  Newly- 
made  houses,  and  particularly  newly-painted  ones,  do  not  often 
attract  the  birds." 

Bird-houses  should  be  protected  from  cats.  If  the  houses 
are  in  trees,  several  rings  of  barbed  wire  may  run  around  the 
tree  spirally,  near  together,  and  held  in  place  by  staples.  If 
the  houses  are  on  poles  which  the  cats  can  climb,  the  same 
device  may  be  used,  or  a  horizontal  shelf  of  tin  may  be 
fastened  below  the  house. 

One  of  the  commonest  difficulties  with  the  use  of  bird- 
houses  is  that  they  are  taken  possession  of  by  English  spar- 
rows to  the  exclusion  of  the  native  birds.  For  bluebirds  at 
least  this  may  sometimes  be  avoided  by  the  use  of  the 
sparrow-proof  houses  described  and  figured  in  Bird  Lore,  by 
Mr.  D.  R.  Geery,  of  Greenwich,  Connecticut.  "  When  designed 
for  bluebirds  they  should  be  suspended  from  a  limb  ten  or 
twelve  feet  from  the  ground,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  allow 
them  to  swing  slightly.  It  may  happen  that  the  sparrows 
will  go  to  these  houses  and  even  commence  to  build ;  but  as 
soon  as  they  find  that  they  swing  and  are  not  firm,  they  will 
abandon  them  entirely.  Wren-boxes  should  be  stationary, 
with  an  opening  not  much  larger  than  a  twenty-five-cent 
piece,  and  placed  so  as  to  be  well  shaded  most  of  the  day." 
Other  observers  have  reported,  however,  that  sparrows  Avill 
occupy  such  swinging  houses. 

Helpful  suggestions  upon  this  phase  of  the  subject  may  also 
be  gotten  from  an  excellent  little  English  book  by  John  R.  B. 
Masefield,  entitled  "Wild  Bird  Protection,"  and  from  Neltje 
Blanchan's  "How  to  Attract  the  Birds." 

An  admirable  idea  has  been  carried  out  in  the  Manual 
Training  Department  of  the  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  schools 


PROFESSOR  BAILEY'S  SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BIRD-HOUSES. 

(After  Cornell  University  Experiment  Station.) 


313 


314  BIRDS   IN   THEIR    RELATIONS   TO   MAN. 

in  making  the  construction  of  attractive  bird-houses  a  regular 
part  of  the  course  in  woodwork.  Pictures  of  these  houses 
are  shown  in  the  suggestive  bulletin  by  Professor  C.  F.  Hodge, 
entitled  "  Our  Birds." 

There  is  no  easier  way  of  enticing  birds  in  summer  than  by 
putting  up  boxes  or  similar  artificial  retreats  for  nests.  Blue- 
birds, wrens,  tree-swallows,  and  martins  have  come  to  be  so 
largely  dependent  upon  human  thoughtfulness  that  there  need 
be  no  apprehension  of  failure  on  this  score.  Almost  anything 
that  is  hollow  and  has  a  hole  for  an  entrance  will  do.  A 
gourd  or  a  small  box  made  from  weather-worn  boards  hung 
in  a  tree  or  put  upon  a  pole,  will  satisfy  the  birds  quite  as  well 
as  more  expensive  domiciles.  A  narrow  strip  of  board  nailed 
along  the  eaves  of  the  stable  will  offer  a  desirable  nesting-site 
for  cliff-swallows.  A  shelf  beneath  an  overhanging  part  of  a 
building  is  likely  to  be  occupied  by  a  phoebe's  nest.  Barn- 
swallows  will  locate  on  the  rafters  of  out-buildings  if  given 
access. 

Birds  may  be  further  favored  in  the  way  of  procuring 
material  for  their  nests.  In  dry  seasons  such  birds  as  robins, 
phcebes,  and  swallows  often  have  to  go  a  long  way  for  mud 
which  forms  the  framework  of  their  nests.  A  peck  of  clay 
put  in  an  old  pan  or  box,  or  even  spread  out  in  the  road,  and 
kept  moist  by  the  application  of  a  little  water  two  or  three 
times  a  day,  is  of  great  assistance  to  them. 

Orioles,  kingbirds,  and  cedar-birds  are  always  glad  to  come 
into  the  yard  for  yarn  put  out  on  the  trees  or  fence  for  their 
use.  Vireos  will  come  for  strips  of  birch-bark  and  sometimes 
for  bits  of  newspaper ;  even  feathers  left  on  the  ground  where 
they  may  be  readily  seen  are  picked  up  by  swallows  and  used 
for  lining  their  nests.  After  one  knows  what  birds'  nests  are 
made  of,  he  has  only  to  supply  suitable  material, — the  birds 
will  come.  Birds  that  employ  woolly  material  may  be  in- 
duced to  construct  very  gay  homes  by  supplying  them  with 
colored  worsteds.  It  would  probably  be  well  to  cut  all  strings 


ENCOURAGING   THE   PRESENCE   OF   BIRDS.  315 

into  lengths  of  a  foot  or  so,  to  avoid  some  of  the  bird  tragedies 
which  have  lately  been  recorded. 

Finally,  birds  are  encouraged  in  the  same  ratio  as  their 
enemies  are  discouraged.  In  the  country,  hawks,  crows,  jays, 
and  squirrels  are  usually  their  worst  foes.  In  or  near  town, 
boys  and  cats  give  most  trouble.  Eternal  vigilance  will  go 
a  long  way,  but  it  will  not  prevent  the  ravages  of  cats.  If  one 
wishes  to  keep  cats  from  marauding  on  his  grounds,  he  must 
surround  them  with  a  cat-proof  fence  ;  there  is  no  other  way. 
Such  a  fence  may  be  constructed  of  woven  wire  such  as  is 
used  for  hen-yards.  It  should  be  not  less  than  six  feet  high, 
and  at  the  top  there  should  be  an  excess  of  about  two  feet  of 
the  netting  left  to  hang  loosely  outward  nearly  horizontally, 
to  head  off  adventurous  climbers.  Entrance  may  be  made 
by  means  of  doors  or  gates  covered  with  netting,  made  to 
swing  outward  and  closed  by  spring  hinges. 

Mr.  William  Brewster,  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  has  a 
fence  of  this  kind  around  his  grounds  that  has  proved  a  com- 
plete success.  Mr.  Brewster  informs  us  that  failure  to  close 
a  door  properly  admits  perhaps  one  cat  a  year,  but  none 
ever  scales  the  fence  from  the  outside. 

The  presence  of  birds  near  at  hand  gives  admirable  oppor- 
tunities for  hunting  with  a  camera,  that  merciful  sport  which 
is  rapidly  taking  the  place  of  the  more  cruel  hunting  with  a 
gun.  The  improved  lenses  and  cameras  now  available  for 
this  work  render  it  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  get  pic- 
tures of  birds  that  shall  be  a  joy  to  the  possessor  as  well  as 
to  all  beholders. 


APPENDIX    I. 

THE  BIRD  LAW   OF  THE  AMERICAN   ORNITHOLOGISTS' 

UNION. 

An  Act  for  the  Protection  of  Birds  and  their  Nests  and  Eggs. 

SECTION  1. — No  person  shall,  within  the  State  of 
kill  or  catch  or  have  in  his  or  her  possession,  living  or  dead,  any 
wild  bird  other  than  a  game-bird,  nor  shall  purchase,  offer,  or 
expose  for  sale  any  such  wild  bird  after  it  has  been  killed  or 
caught.  No  part  of  the  plumage,  skin,  or  body  of  any  bird  pro- 
tected by  this  section  shall  be  sold  or  had  in  possession  for  sale. 
For  the  purposes  of  this  act  the  following  only  shall  be  consid- 
ered game-birds :  The  Anatidce,  commonly  known  as  swans, 
geese,  brant,  river-  and  sea-ducks ;  the  Rallidce,  commonly  known 
as  rails,  coots,  mud-hens,  and  gallinules;  the  Limicola,  com- 
monly known  as  shore-birds,  plover,  surf-birds,  snipe,  woodcock, 
sand-pipers,  tattlers,  and  curlews ;  the  Gallince,  commonly  known 
as  wild  turkeys,  grouse,  prairie-chickens,  pheasants,  partridges, 
and  quails. 

SEC.  2. — No  person  shall,  within  the  State  of 
take  or  needlessly  destroy  the  nest  or  the  eggs  of  any  wild  bird 
nor  shall  have  such  nest  or  the  eggs  in  his  or  her  possession. 

SEC.  3. — Any  person  who  violates  any  of  the  provisions  of  this 
act  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall  be  liable  to  a 
fine  of  five  dollars  for  each  offence,  and  an  additional  fine  of 
five  dollars  for  each  bird,  living  or  dead,  or  part  of  bird,  or 
nest  and  eggs  possessed  in  violation  of  this  act,  or  to  imprison- 
ment for  ten  days,  or  both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

SEC.  4. — Sections  1,  2,  and  3  of  this  act  shall  not  apply  to 
any  person  holding  a  certificate  giving  the  right  to  take  birds 
and  their  nests  and  eggs  for  scientific  purposes,  as  provided  for 
in  Section  5  of  this  act. 

SEC.  5. — Certificates  may  be  granted  by  [here  follow  the  names 
of  the  persons,  if  any,  duly  authorized  by  this  act  to  grant  such 
certificates],  or  by  any  incorporated  society  of  natural  history 

317 


318  APPENDIX   I. 

in  the  State,  through  such  persons  or  officers  as  said  society  may 
designate,  to  any  properly  accredited  person  of  the  age  of  fifteen 
years  or  upward,  permitting  the  holder  thereof  to  collect  birds, 
their  nests  or  eggs,  for  strictly  scientific  purposes  only.  In  order 
to  obtain  such  certificate  the  applicant  for  the  same  must  present 
to  the  person  or  persons  having  the  power  to  grant  said  certifi- 
cate written  testimonials  from  two  well-known  scientific  men, 
certifying  to  the  good  character  and  fitness  of  said  applicant  to 
be  intrusted  with  such  privilege;  must  pay  to  said  persons  or 
officers  one  dollar  to  defray  the  necessary  expenses  attending  the 
granting  of  such  certificates;  and  must  file  with  said  persons 
or  officers  a  properly  executed  bond  in  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
dollars,  signed  by  two  responsible  citizens  of  the  State  as  sure- 
ties. This  bond  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  State  and  the  certificate 
become  void  upon  proof  that  the  holder  of  such  a  certificate  has 
killed  any  bird,  or  taken  the  nest  or  eggs  of  any  bird,  for  other 
than  the  purposes  named  in  Sections  4  and  5  of  this  act,  and 
shall  be  further  subject  for  each  such  offence  to  the  penalties 
provided  therefor  in  Section  3  of  this  act. 

SEC.  6. — The  certificates  authorized  by  this  act  shall  be  in 
force  for  one  year  only  from  the  date  of  their  issue,  and  shall 
not  be  transferable. 

SEC.  7. — The  English  or  European  house-sparrow  (Passer 
domesticus)  is  not  included  among  the  birds  protected  by  this 
act. 

SEC.  8. — All  acts  or  parts  of  acts  heretofore  passed,  inconsist- 
ent with  or  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  are  hereby 
repealed. 

SEC.  9. — This  act  shall  take  effect  upon  its  passage. 

REMARKS. 

The  accompanying  law  is  calculated  to  protect  our  birds  as 
effectually  as  any  legislation  can,  and  it  is  desirable,  if  possible, 
to  obtain  its  passage  as  it  stands.  It  is,  however,  a  well-known 
fact  that  in  many  of  our  States  the  act  would  not  receive  favor- 
able consideration  unless  modified  in  several  particulars.  We 
offer  the  following  suggestions  regarding  revision  when  it  is 
unavoidable : 


APPENDIX   I.  319 

1.  Game-Birds. — In  many  States  doves  are  universally  classed 
as  game-birds,  and  where  the  game  laws  cover  their  protection 
during  a  closed  season  they  may  be  so  classed  in  Section  1  if 
necessary. 

Reed-birds  and  blackbirds  may  have  to  be  treated  in  the  same 
way  in  several  States.  Robins,,  nickers,  and  meadow-larks,  how- 
ever, should  not  be  permitted  to  be  classed  as  game. 

2.  Cage  Birds. — There  is  nothing  in  the  law  to  prevent  the 
keeping  of  foreign  cage  birds,  as  canaries,  etc. 

To  keep  native  birds  alive  for  study,  etc.,  a  certificate  must 
be  secured  as  per  Section  5.  This  is  necessary  to  prevent  traffic 
in  live  birds. 

3.  Other  birds  which  may  have  to  be  excluded   from  pro- 
tection : 

Hawks  and  Owls. — The  prejudice  against  these  birds  is  very 
strong,  while  the  argument  in  their  favor  is  well  known  and 
conclusive.  They  should  be  protected  if  possible.  If  nothing 
better  can  be  done,  effect  a  compromise  by  excluding  Cooper's 
hawk,  goshawk,  sharp-shinned  hawk,  and  great  horned  owl,  and 
protect  the  rest.  Crows  may  have  to  be  denied  protection  ;  there 
is  about  as  much  evidence  for  as  against  them,  however.  Shrikes, 
herons,  gulls,  and  terns  should  by  all  means  be  protected. 

4.  Where  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  exclude  any  birds  from 
protection  they  may  be  added  to  Section  7,  so  as  not  to  alter  the 
main  text. 

5.  On  no  account  omit  Sections  4,  5,  and  G,  as  has  been  done  in 
some  of  the  present  laws. 

With  the  restrictions  placed  upon  holders  of  certificates  there 
is  no  danger  of  improper  persons  obtaining  them.  A  small  num- 
ber of  birds  are  required  for  scientific  purposes,  and  provision 
should  be  made  for  obtaining  them  as  much  as  for  shooting  game- 
birds.  The  fee  should  be  abolished,  if  possible,  and  should  on 
no  account  be  more  than  one  dollar.  The  age  limit  should,  more- 
over, not  be  raised  above  fifteen  years. 


APPENDIX    II. 

THE    LACEY    BIRD    LAW. 

An  Act  to  enlarge  the  Powers  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
prohibit  the  Transportation  by  Interstate  Commerce  of  Game 
killed  in  Violation  of  Local  Laws,  and  for  other  Purposes. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the 
duties  and  powers  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  are  hereby 
enlarged  so  as  to  include  the  preservation,  distribution,  intro- 
duction, and  restoration  of  game-birds  and  other  wild  birds. 
The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  is  hereby  authorized  to  adopt 
such  measures  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the  purposes 
of  this  act  and  to  purchase  such  game-birds  and  other  wild 
birds  as  may  be  required  therefor,  subject,  however,  to  the  laws  of 
the  various  States  and  Territories.  The  object  and  purpose  of 
this  act  is  to  aid  in  the  restoration  of  such  birds  in  those  parts  of 
the  United  States  adapted  thereto  where  the  same  have  become 
scarce  or  extinct,  and  also  to  regulate  the  introduction  of  Ameri- 
can or  foreign  birds  or  animals  in  localities  where  they  have  not 
heretofore  existed. 

The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  shall  from  time  to  time  collect 
and  publish  useful  information  as  to  the  propagation,  uses,  and 
preservation  of  such  birds. 

And  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  shall  make  and  publish  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  for  carrying  out  the  purposes  of 
this  act,  and  shall  expend  for  said  purposes  such  sums  as  Con- 
gress may  appropriate  therefor. 

SEC.  2. — That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  or  persons 
to  import  into  the  United  States  any  foreign  wild  animal  or  bird 
except  under  special  permit  from  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture:  Provided,  That  nothing  in  this  section  shall 
restrict  the  importation  of  natural  history  specimens  for  mu- 
seums or  scientific  collections  or  the  importation  of  certain  cage 
320" 


APPENDIX   II.  321 

birds,  such  as  domesticated  canaries,  parrots,  or  such  other  spe- 
cies as  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  may  designate. 

The  importation  of  the  mongoose,  the  so-called  "  flying-foxes" 
or  fruit  bats,  the  English  sparrow,  the  starling,  or  such  other 
birds  or  animals  as  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  may  from  time 
to  time  declare  injurious  to  the  interest  of  agriculture  or  horti- 
culture is  hereby  prohibited,  and  such  species  upon  arrival  at  any 
of  the  ports  of  the  United  States  shall  be  destroyed  or  returned 
at  the  expense  of  the  owner.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is 
hereby  authorized  to  make  regulations  for  carrying  into  effect 
the  provisions  of  this  section. 

SEC.  3. — That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  or  persons 
to  deliver  to  any  common  carrier  or  for  any  common  carrier  to 
transport  from  one  State  or  Territory  to  another  State  or  Terri- 
tory, or  from  the  District  of  Columbia  or  Alaska  to  any  State 
or  Territory,  or  from  any  State  or  Territory  to  the  District  of 
Columbia  or  Alaska,  any  foreign  animals  or  birds  the  importa- 
tion of  which  is  prohibited,  or  the  dead  bodies  or  parts  thereof 
of  any  wild  animals  or  birds  where  such  animals  or  birds  have 
been  killed  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  State,  Territory,  or 
District  in  which  the  same  were  killed :  Provided,  That  nothing 
herein  shall  prevent  the  transportation  of  any  dead  birds  or  ani- 
mals killed  during  the  season  when  the  same  may  be  lawfully 
captured  and  the  export  of  which  is  not  prohibited  by  law  in  the 
State,  Territory,  or  District  in  which  the  same  are  killed. 

SEC.  4. — That  all  packages  containing  such  dead  animals, 
birds,  or  parts  thereof,  when  shipped  by  interstate  commerce,  as 
provided  in  Section  1  of  this  act,  shall  be  plainly  and  clearly 
marked,  so  that  the  name  and  address  of  the  shipper  and  the 
nature  of  the  contents  may  be  readily  ascertained  on  inspection 
of  the  outside  of  such  packages.  For  each  evasion  or  violation 
of  this  act  the  shipper  shall,  upon  conviction,  pay  a  fine  of  not 
exceeding  two  hundred  dollars;  and  the  consignee  knowingly 
receiving  such  articles  so  shipped  and  transported  in  violation  of 
this  act  shall,  upon  conviction,  pay  a  fine  of  not  exceeding  two 
hundred  dollars;  and  the  carrier  knowingly  carrying  or  trans- 
porting the  same  shall,  upon  conviction,  pay  a  fine  of  not  exceed- 
ing two  hundred  dollars. 

21 


322  APPENDIX    II. 

SEC.  5. — That  all  dead  bodies,  or  parts  thereof,  of  any  foreign 
game-animals  or  game-  or  song-birds,  the  importation  of  which 
is  prohibited,  or  the  dead  bodies  or  parts  thereof  of  any  wild 
game-animals  or  game-  or  song-birds  transported  into  any  State 
or  Territory,  or  remaining  therein  for  use,  consumption,  sale,  or 
storage  therein,  shall,  upon  arrival  in  such  State  or  Territory, 
be  subject  to  the  operation  and  effect  of  the  laws  of  such  State 
or  Territory  enacted  in  the  exercise  of  its  police  powers,  to  the 
same  extent  and  in  the  same  manner  as  though  such  animals 
and  birds  had  been  produced  in  such  State  or  Territory,  and 
shall  not  be  exempt  therefrom  by  reason  of  being  introduced 
therein  in  original  packages  or  otherwise.  This  act  shall  not  pre- 
vent the  importation,  transportation,  or  sale  of  birds  or  bird  plu- 
mage manufactured  from  the  feathers  of  barn-yard  fowl. 

Approved  May  25,  1900. 


APPENDIX    III. 
SOME    FUNDAMENTAL    PRINCIPLES    OF    BIRD    LAWS. 

BY    T.    S.    PALMER. 

ADEQUATE  laws  necessarily  form  the  foundation  of  effective 
bird  protection.  But  it  is  not  enough  merely  to  enact  laws :  they 
must  be  enforced  and  doubtful  points  must  be  settled  by  the 
courts.  The  bird  laws  of  the  United  States,  usually  called  game 
laws,  are  of  two  kinds  (a)  State  or  local  laws  and  (b)  Federal 
laws. 

State  laws  prescribe  the  kinds  of  birds  which  may  or  may  not 
be  killed,  the  time  and  manner  in  which  they  may  be  taken, 
and  the  purpose  for  which  they  may  be  captured.  Thus  the 
Illinois  game  law  defines  game-birds  and  prohibits  the  killing 
of  other  birds  at  any  time.  In  providing  for  game  it  fixes  a 
definite  season  for  shooting  quail  and  ducks,  but  forbids  the  kill- 
ing of  ducks  at  any  season  from  a  sail-boat,  with  a  swivel  gun, 
or  after  sunset ;  furthermore  it  declares  that  it  shall  be  unlawful 
to  capture  quail  in  the  State  for  sale  or  ship  to  other  States  ex- 
cept under  license.  In  all  these  matters  the  State  is  supreme  and 
violations  of  its  laws  are  tried  in  the  State  courts. 

The  Federal  law,  commonly  known  as  the  Lacey  Act,  or  the 
Act  of  May  25,  1900,  deals  merely  with  the  shipment  of  birds 
from  one  State  to  another  and  the  importation  of  birds  from 
foreign  countries.  It  is  general  in  its  provisions  and  does  not 
mention  special  birds,  but,  nevertheless,  supplements  the  State 
laws  very  effectually.  Thus  if  a  State  prohibits  the  killing  of 
any  particular  bird,  the  shipment  of  the  bird  out  of  that  State 
is  an  offence  under  the  Federal  law,  and  the  shipper,  carrier,  and 
consignee,  each  or  all,  may  be  prosecuted  in  the  United  States 
courts. 

Some  of  the  principles  on  which  these  laws  are  based  may  be 
stated  very  simply  as  follows : 

323 


324  APPENDIX   III. 

(a)    STATE    LAWS. 

1.  All  wild  birds  are  the  property  of  the  State,  hence : 

2.  Killing  birds  is  a  privilege,  not  a  right. 

3.  State  ownership  of  birds  carries  with  it  the  right  to  impose 
restrictions,  hence : 

4.  Birds  may  be  captured,  possessed,  transported,  bought,  or 
sold  only  under  such  conditions  as  the  State  prescribes. 

5.  Land-owners  have  no  more  right  to  kill  birds  out  of  sea- 
son than  other  persons,  unless  the  law  specifically  grants  this 
privilege. 

(b)    FEDERAL    LAW. 

6.  Birds  are  protected  by  the  Federal  law  only  when  shipped 
from  or  into  a  State  which  protects  them  by  a  local  law. 

7.  Birds  killed  or  shipped  contrary  to  law  in  any  State  cannot 
lawfully  be  transported  to  other  States. 

8.  Birds  brought  into  a  State  become  subject  to  its  laws  in 
the  same  manner  and  to  the  same  extent  as  birds  produced  in 
that  State. 

9.  Packages  of  birds  shipped  from  one  State  to  another  must 
be  marked  so  as  to  show  the  name  of  the  shipper  and  the  nature 
of  the  contents. 

10.  Foreign  birds  can  be  imported  into  the  United  States  only 
under  permit  from  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
and  birds  declared  injurious  by  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture  can- 
not be  imported  into  the  United  States  or  shipped  from  one 
State  to  another. 

Simple  as  all  these  propositions  may  seem,  they  have  been  the 
cause  of  much  discussion.  Most  of  them,  however,  have  been 
passed  upon  by  the  higher  courts  and  are  no  longer  open  to 
question.  The  right  of  the  crown  to  all  wild  game  was  estab- 
lished in  England  years  ago,  and  the  State  ownership  of  game 
now  clearly  stated  in  the  laws  of  Colorado,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
Minnesota,  Texas,  and  Wisconsin  is  an  inheritance  from  the 
English  common  law.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
has  upheld  this  claim  as  well  as  the  right  of  the  State  to  prohibit 
killing  game  for  sale  (125  U.  S.,  465)  .or  export  (Geer  vs. 
Connecticut,  161  U.  S.,  519). 

Possession  of  birds  out  of  season  was  long  regarded  merely 


APPENDIX   III.  325 

as  evidence  of  illegal  killing,  but  is  now  made  an  offence  punish- 
able by  fine  in  several  States.  The  right  of  a  State  to  make 
laws  regarding  birds  imported  from  other  States  has  been  vigor- 
ously contested  and  has  been  variously  decided  by  the  courts, 
but  the  question  has  now  been  practically  set  at  rest  by  the 
passage  of  the  Lacey  Act.  Some  States  have  hesitated  to  en- 
croach upon  the  rights  of  the  individual,  as  shown  by  the  excep- 
tion in  favor  of  land-owners  in  the  section  of  the  Delaware  law 
relating  to  insectivorous  birds,  and  also  by  the  provisions  in  the 
laws  of  Illinois,  Kansas,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Ohio,  and  South 
Carolina  which  permit  a  person  to  kill  birds  found  destroying 
fruit  on  his  own  premises.  On  the  other  hand,  Massachusetts 
declares  that  game  artificially  reared  shall  be  the  exclusive  prop- 
erty of  the  person  raising  it,  but  forbids  the  owner  to  sell  it  for 
food  during  close  seasons.  Illinois  exacts  a  ten-dollar  hunting 
license  from  non-residents,  even  though  they  lease  or  own  a 
game  preserve  within  the  State,  and  Wyoming,  in  the  famous 
"  Race  Horse  case,"  carried  up  to  the  Supreme  Court  in  1896, 
has  successfully  maintained  her  right  to  compel  Indians  to  obey 
her  game  laws  (163  IT.  S.,  504). 

During  the  last  fifty  years  the  sentiment  in  favor  of  bird  pro- 
tection has  developed  rapidly.  Many  laws  have  been  enacted, 
amended,  and  sustained  by  the  courts.  That  these  laws  are  still 
imperfect  is  partly  the  result  of  carelessness  and  partly  of  strong 
opposition  due  to  ignorance  or  selfishness.  Our  game  laws,  un- 
like those  of  Europe,  are  maintained  for  the  good  of  the  people 
as  a  whole,  not  for  the  benefit  of  any  one  class,  and  their  enforce- 
ment depends  very  largely  on  a  general  appreciation  of  the  prin- 
ciples upon  which  they  are  based. — Bird  Lore,  vol.  iii.,  pages 
79-81. 


APPENDIX    IV. 

A  PARTIAL  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  RELATIONS  OF 
NORTH   AMERICAN    BIRDS.1 

BY    CLARENCE    M.    WEED. 

THE  importance  of  birds  as  checks  upon  the  undue  increase  of 
noxious  insects  has  long  been  recognized  by  observing  men  scat- 
tered here  and  there  throughout  the  United  States.  But  a  general 
appreciation  of  the  value  of  these  feathered  allies  is  of  com- 
paratively recent  development,  and  in  some  regions  they  are  still 
unappreciated. 

The  literature  which  has  led  to  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  value 
of  birds  has  been  scattered  through  many  publications,  much  of 
which  is  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader,  and  some  of  it  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  even  by  the  specialist.  In  the  following  pages  I 
have  attempted  to  bring  together  a  bibliographic  list  of  the  more 
important  articles  treating  of  the  economic  relations  of  our  birds. 
In  compiling  it  I  have  had  the  help  of  Messrs.  A.  F.  Conradi, 
W.  F.  Fiske,  and  R.  A.  Cushman,  while  assistants  in  the  ento- 
mological department  of  this  station.  For  a  number  of  citations 
of  articles  in  Forest  and  Stream  I  am  indebted  to  the  pages  of 
The  Auk,  while  a  few  others  have  been  gleaned  from  various 
other  sources.  It  has  been  impracticable  to  include  citations  of 
the  great  mass  of  literature  treating  specifically  of  game-birds, 
or  their  acclimation  and  domestication,  as  well  as  of  the 
thousands  of  references  to  the  English  sparrow,  and  of  the  many 
general  bird  books  of  recent  years. 

1854.    GORGAS,  JOHN.    Importation  of  Skylarks.    United  States 
Patent  Office,  Agricultural  Report,  1853,  pages  70-71. 

Account  of  an  importation  of  skylarks  into  America  in  the 
spring  of  1853. 

1  Reprinted,  with  corrections  and  additions,  from  Technical  Bulletin 
No.  5,  New  Hampshire  College  Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 
326 


APPENDIX   IV.  327 

1854.  WOLFORD,  H.  L.     On  the  Importation  and  Protection  of 
Useful  Birds.     United  States  Patent  Office.  Agricultural 
Report,  Part  II.,  1853,  pages  71-74. 

A  strong  recommendation  for  the  importation  of  immense 
numbers  of  European  song  and  insectivorous  birds  into 
America. 

1855.  LE  BARON,  WILLIAM.     Observations  upon  some  of  the 
Birds  of  Illinois  most  interesting  to  the  Agriculturist. 
Transactions  Illinois  Agricultural  Society,  1853-54,  vol. 
i.,  pages  559-565. 

A  general  discussion,  with  especial  reference  to  the  insectivo- 
rous birds  of  Illinois. 

1859.  JENKS,  J.  W.  P.  The  Food  of  the  Robin.  Transactions 
Massachusetts  Horticultural  Society,  1859. 

Critical  study  of  stomach  contents  of  many  specimens. 

1859.  TREADWELL,  D.  The  Food  of  Young  Robins.  Proceed- 
ings Boston  Society  of  Natural  History,  vol.  vi.,  pages 
396-399. 

Amount  of  food  eaten  by  young  robins. 

1859.  KIRKPATRICK,  JOHN.     Rapacious  Birds  of  Ohio.     Ohio 
Agricultural  Report  for  1858,  pages  341-383. 

1860.  KIRKPATRICK,   JOHN.     Birds   of   Ohio.      Ohio   Farmer 
(Cleveland),  1858-1860. 

A  series  of  articles  running  through  three  years. 

1861.  COLLINS,  W.  0.    Report  of  Senate  Select  Committee  upon 
Senate  Bill  No.  12,  "  For  the  Protection  of  Birds  and 
Game."     Fifteenth  Annual  Report  Ohio  State  Board  of 
Agriculture  for  1860  (1861),  pages  381-390. 

Facts  in  the  natural  history  of  Ohio  birds,  with  recommenda- 
tions for  legislative  action. 

1861.    (HARRIS,  S.  D.,  Editor.)     Field  Notes,  I.,  1861,  page  65. 

Note  on  the  introduction  of  the  English  skylark  at  Columbus, 
in  1851. 


328  APPENDIX   IV. 

1861.  WELLS,  D.  A.    On  the  Feeding  and  Growth  of  the  Ameri- 
can Robin.    United  States  Patent  Office.  Report  on  Agri- 
culture, 1860,  pages  88-89. 

Abstract  of  an  article  by  Professor  Treadwell,  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  directed  to  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  His- 
tory, and  containing  a  detailed  account  of  the  food  required  by 
two  young  robins  captured  when  about  half  grown. 

1862.  FLAGG,  WILSON.    Utility  of  Birds.     Massachusetts  Agri- 
cultural Report,  1861,  pages  70-78. 

Long  essay  on  the  economic  value  of  birds,  with  numerous 
notes  on  food  habits  of  certain  species,  some  of  them  from 
original  observations. 

1864.  MICHENER,  E.  Agricultural  Ornithology.  Insectivorous 
Birds  of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1863,  pages  287-307. 

The  value  of  birds  to  the  agricultural  interests  discussed,  and 
followed  by  a  list  of  the  birds  of  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania, 
with  the  exception  of  the  water  species.  Brief  notes  on  the  food 
and  habits  of  each  bird  are  given. 

1864.  SAMUELS,  E.  A.     Mammalogy  and  Ornithology  of  New 
England  with  special  reference  to  Agricultural  Economy. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1863. 
pages  265-286. 

Outlines  of  the  classification  of  mammals,  birds,  and  insects, 
with  brief  notes  on  the  economic  importance  of  each  order  from 
an  agricultural  stand-point.  Also  a  more  general  discussion 
of  the  relations  between  the  birds  and  mammals  and  the  farmer, 
and  the  causes  which  tend  to  alter  them. 

1865.  DODGE,  J.  R.    Birds  and  Bird  Laws.    United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  Report,  1864,  page  431. 

Treats  of  the  uses  of  birds,  the  necessity  of  a  balance  in 
animal  production,  value  of  birds  as  insect  destroyers;  the 
refutation  of  false  charges  against  them  and  manner  of  pro- 
tecting them ;  and  gives  in  conclusion  a  digest  of  the  bird  and 
game  laws  then  existing  in  most  of  the  Eastern  and  Central 
States. 


APPENDIX   IV.  329 

1865.  ELLIOT,  D.  G.    The  "  Game-Birds"  of  the  United  States. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1864, 
pages  356-385. 

An  introduction  defining  the  phrase  "  game-bird"  as  here 
used,  followed  by  more  or  less  lengthy  discussions  of  the  fol- 
lowing species  which  he  classifies  under  that  head:  Wild  tur- 
key, Mexican  wild  turkey,  ocellated  wild  turkey,  cock  of  the 
plains,  ruffed  grouse,  Sabine's  grouse,  allied  grouse,  prairie 
hen,  sharp-tailed  grouse,  Arctic  sharp-tailed  grouse,  dusky 
grouse,  Richardson's  grouse,  spruce  grouse,  Franklin's  grouse, 
white-tailed  ptarmigan,  willow  ptarmigan,  Virginian  partridge, 
Texan  partridge,  plumed  partridge,  California  partridge,  Gam- 
bel's  partridge,  scaled  partridge,  Massena  partridge,  woodcock, 
Wilson's  or  English  snipe,  and  wild  pigeon. 

1866.  SAMUELS,    E.    A.      The    Agricultural    Value    of    Birds. 
Massachusetts    Agricultural    Eeport,    1865-1866,    pages 
94-117. 

An  address  on  the  value  of  the  different  groups  of  birds, 
with  general  discussion  and  citation  of  examples  at  home  and 
abroad. 

1866.  GLOVER,  TOWNEND.    Report  of  the  Entomologist.    Report 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  1865,  pages  36-45. 

A  general  synopsis  of  the  insectivorous  birds  of  North 
America,  with  account  of  the  examination  of  stomachs  of  many 
of  them.  Included  in  the  report  of  the  government  entomologist 
for  1865. 

1867.  WALSH,   BENJAMIN    D.     Birds   vs.    Insects.     Practical 
Entomologist,  vol.  ii.,  pages  44-47. 

An  important  article  showing  the  injury  of  birds  to  fruit, 
and  contending  that  they  do  much  damage  by  destroying  pre- 
daceous  and  parasitic  insects. 

1868.  SAMUELS,  E.  A.    Value  of  Birds  on  the  Farm.    United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1867,  pages 
201-208. 

Notes  on  the  economic  importance  of  birds,  with  accounts  of 
the  examination  of  stomachs  of  the  robin,  various  species  of 
woodpeckers,  cuckoos,  crows,  and  jays;  nearly  all  of  the  notes 
are  apparently  original. 


330  APPENDIX   IV. 

1869.  TURNBULL,  WILLIAM  P.    The  Birds  of  East  Pennsylvania 
and  New  Jersey.     Philadelphia,  Henry  Grambo  &  Co., 
pages  i.-vii.,  5-50. 

On  pages  48-50  there  is  a  discussion  of  "  Birds  which  have 
disappeared." 

1870.  LE  BARON,  WILLIAM.     Do  Birds  do  More  Good  than 
Harm  ?    No.  I.,  Prairie  Farmer,  March  12,  1870,  vol.  xli., 
page  74;   No.  II.,  Ibid.,  March  19,  1870,  page  82;    No. 
III.,  Ibid.,   April   2,   1870.      Summary   in   Seventeenth 
Report  of  the  State  Entomologist  of  Illinois,  Appendix, 
pages  6-7. 

First  article  considers  injuries  done  by  birds  in  general.  The 
second  considers  certain  common  species.  The  third  considers 
birds  as  essential  to  keeping  up  the  balance  of  nature. 

1870.  LE  BARON,  WILLIAM.    Insectivorous  Habits  of  the  Prairie 
Lark  (Alauda  alpestris).    American  Entomologist,  April, 
1870,  vol.  ii.,  page  177. 

Feeds  on  cutworms  as  well  as  grain. 

1871.  GLOVER,  T.    Report  of  the  Entomologist.    Report  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1870,  pages 
90-91. 

Note  on  the  economic  value  of  birds  in  general,  and  on  the 
introduction  of  the  English  sparrow  in  particular,  included  in 
the  report  on  entomology. 

1872.  LOCKWOOD,  REV.  SAMUEL.     The  Baltimore  Oriole  and 
Carpenter  Bee.    American  Naturalist,  vol.  ii.,  pages  721- 
724. 

Oriole  removes  head  of  bee  and  empties  honey-sack. 

1872.  PALMER,  FRANK  H.  The  Utility  of  Birds  to  Agricul- 
ture. Massachusetts  Agricultural  Report,  1870-1872, 
pages  107-120. 

An  essay  on  economic  importance  of  birds,  special  reference 
being  made  to  some  thirty  New  England  species. 


APPENDIX   IV.  331 

1873.  PERKINS,  G.  H.    Birds  in  their  Relation  to  Agriculture. 
Vermont  Agricultural  Report,  1872,  pages  316-337. 

A  paper  read  before  the  Vermont  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
on  the  economic  relations  of  birds.  Abstract  in  the  report  of 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  1873,  page  476. 

1874.  BAILEY,  L.  H.,  JR.    Birds.    Third  Annual  Report  Secre- 
tary State  Pomological   Society  of  Michigan  for   1873, 
pages  127-128. 

Insect-feeding  habits  of  several  common  singing  birds  of 
Michigan. 

1874.  BOYCE,  CAROLINE.  The  Robin.  American  Naturalist, 
vol.  viii.,  pages  203-208. 

Habits,  food,  nesting,  broods,  time  of  brooding. 

1874.  LANG,  J.  W.  The  Value  of  Insect-Eating  Birds.  New 
Hampshire  Agricultural  Report,  1873,  vol.  iii.,  pages 
297-314. 

Introduction,  followed  by  a  synopsis  of  families  with  chief 
characteristics;  a  discussion  on  the  food  of  birds,  with  some 
apparently  new  data  on  stomach  contents  in  a  fe\v  instances, 
and  concluding  remarks  on  the  necessity  of  a  proper  balance, 
the  usefulness  of  birds  in  general,  and  a  plea  for  their  pro- 
tection. 

1874.  LE  BARON,  WILLIAM.    The  Bird  Question.    Transactions 
Illinois  State  Horticultural  Society,  1873,  vol.  vii.,  pages 
311-319. 

Discussion  of  the  economic  importance  of  birds. 

1875.  PALMER,  FRANK  H.     Insect-Eating  Birds,  the  Farmer's 
Best  Friends.   Boston,  Massachusetts,  Society  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  1875. 

A  prize  essay,  and  an  admirable  discussion. 


332  APPENDIX   IV. 

1875.  WHEATON,  J.  M.    The  Food  of  Birds  as  Related  to  Agri- 
culture.     Ohio   Agricultural   Report   for    1874    (1875), 
pages  561-578  (September.  1875).    Also  reprint,  repaged, 
but  otherwise  unchanged,  pages  1-18. 

"  This  is  in  effect  a  corrected  and  completed  list  of  the  birds 
of  Ohio,  briefly  annotated,  and  with  the  general  food  regimen 
of  each  family  given;  being  a  well-conceived  essay  of  much 
practical  utility."  Coues,  Bibliographical  Appendix,  Birds  of 
Colorado  Valley,  1878,  page  71G. 

1876.  COUES,  ELLIOTT.    The  Destruction  of  Birds  by  Telegraph 
Wires.    American  Naturalist,  vol.  x.,  pages  734-736. 

Many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  birds  killed.     Instances  cited. 

1877.  ALLEN,  J.  A.    Destruction  of  Birds  in  the  United  States. 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  x.,  page  636. 

Review  of  article  by  Mr.  Allen  in  Penn  Monthly,  condemning 
the  wholesale  slaughter  of  the  herons  in  Florida. 

1877.    CATON,  J.  W.    The  Wild  Turkey  and  its  Domestication. 
American  Naturalist,  vol.  xi.,  pages  321-330. 

The  young;  effects  of  domestication;  characters  of  sexes; 
food;  three  principles  of  domestication. 

1877.  CALVIN,  SAMUEL.     On  Changes  of  Habit  among  Wood- 
peckers.   American  Naturalist,  vol.  xi.,  pages  471-472. 

Struggle  for  life  among  bark-searching  insects  during  recent 
geologic  ages,  severe,  etc. 

1878.  AUGHEY,  SAMUEL.    Notes  on  the  Nature  of  the  Food  of 
the  Birds  of  Nebraska.     United   States  Entomological 
Commission,  First  Report,  Appendix  II. 

A  very  important  paper  showing  the  relation  of  birds  to  out- 
breaks of  the  Rocky  Mountain  locust. 

1878.    LOCKWOOD,  SAMUEL.    The  Night  Herons  and  their  Exo- 
dus.   American  Naturalist,  vol.  xii.,  pages  29-35.  • 
The  quantity  of  food  consumed  by  these  birds. 


APPENDIX   IV.  333 

1878.    LYLE,  DAVID  ALEXANDER.  •  The  Robins'  Food.    American 
Naturalist,  vol.  xii.,  pages  448-453. 
Habits,  quality,  quantity. 

1878.  WILLISTON,  S.  W.     The  Prairie  Dog,  Owl,  and  Rattle- 
snake.   American  Naturalist,  vol.  xii.,  page  207. 

The  shore-lark  part  of  food  of  the  owl. 

1879.  FISHER,  A.   K.     Small  Birds  Caught  by  the  Burdock. 
American  Naturalist,  vol.  x.,  page  239. 

Humming-bird,  yellow-bird,  and  yellow-rumped  warbler  caught 
by  burs  of  burdock. 

1880.  BREWER,  T.  M.    The  Value  of  Birds.    Transactions  Illi- 
nois State  Horticultural  Society,  1879,  vol.  xiii.,  pages 
173-178. 

Reprint  of  an  address  delivered  before  the  Hingham  ( Mass. ) 
Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Society,  July  19,  1869,  on  the 
economic  importance  of  birds. 

1880.  CUMMINGS,  A.  L.  Horticultural  Ornithology.  Trans- 
actions Illinois  State  Horticultural  Society,  1879.,  vol. 
xiii.,  pages  295-298. 

Discussion  of  the  economic  relations  of  certain  of  our  native 
birds. 

1880.  FORBES,  S.  A.  The  Food  of  Birds.  Transactions  Illi- 
nois State  Horticultural  Society,  1879,  vol.  xiii.,  pages 
120-172. 

Discussion  of  the  economic  value  of  birds,  followed  by  de- 
tailed account  of  the  feeding  habits  of  the  robin,  catbird, 
brown  thrush,  wood-thrush,  Alice's  thrush,  and  Swainson's 
thrush ;  followed  by  a  detailed  account  of  the  stomach  contents 
of  these  birds. 

1880.  FORBES,  S.  A.  The  Food  of  Birds.  Bulletin  Illinois 
State  Laboratory  Natural  History,  vol.  i.,  pages  80-148. 

A  general  introduction  discussing  the  necessity  of  a  knowl- 
edge of  bird  food  and  methods  of  study j  with  extended  records 
of  studies  of  food  of  the  thrushes  and  stone-chats. 


334  APPENDIX   IV. 

1880.  FORBES,  S.  A.  On  Some  Interactions  of  Organisms.  Bul- 
letin Illinois  State  Laboratory  Natural  History,  vol.  i., 
pages  3-17. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  food  relations  of  animals,  with 
especial  reference  to  birds  and  insects. 

1880.  FORBES,  S.  A.  Notes  on  Insectivorous  Coleoptera.  Bul- 
letin Illinois  State  Laboratory  Natural  History,  vol.  i., 
pages  153-160. 

Feeding  habits  of  ground-beetles,  with  discussion  of  relation 
to  birds. 

1880.  FERRIS,  EDOUARD.  Birds  vs.  Insects.  American  Ento- 
mologist, vol.  iii.,  pages  69-72,  96-100. 

A  translation  by  S.  A.  Forbes  of  an  important  paper  making 
arguments  similar  to  those  of  Walsh  in  1867. 

1880.  WEBSTER,  F.  M.     Notes  upon  the  Food  of  Predaceous 
Beetles.    Bulletin  Illinois  State  Laboratory  Natural  His- 
tory, vol.  i.,  pages  149-152. 

Observation  on  food  habits  of  ground-beetles  and  others  that 
birds  feed  upon. 

1881.  ALDRICH,  CHARLES.     Value  of  the  House-Wren  as  an 
Insect  Destroyer.     American  Naturalist,  vol.  xv.,  page 
318. 

Hardiness,  sociability,  love  of  locality,  and  wonderful  fecun- 
dity render  it  one  of  -the  most  valuable  of  our  insectivorous 
birds. 

1881.  BUMPUS,  H.  C.  The  Habits  of  the  Yellow-Bellied  Wood- 
pecker. American  Naturalist,  vol.  xv.,  page  738. 

A  proof  that  these  birds  are  sap-eaters,  if  not  also  bark- 
eaters. 


APPENDIX   IV  335 

1881.  FORBES,  S.  A.  Supplementary  Report  on  the  Food  of  the 
Thrush  Family.  Transactions  Illinois  State  Horticul- 
tural Society,  1880,  vol.  xiv.,  pages  106-126. 

Comparison  between  earlier  and  more  recent  tables  of  the 
food  of  the  thrushes  of  Illinois  (Transactions  Illinois  State 
Horticultural  Society,  1879,  vol.  xiii.,  pages  120-172),  with  addi- 
tional notes  on  the  food  of  this  family,  followed  by  a  detailed, 
account  on  the  food  of  the  bluebird. 

1881.  LOCKWOOD,  SAMUEL.     The  Eastern  Snow-Bird.     Ameri- 
can Naturalist,  vol.  xv.,  page  524. 

Note  on  exportation  as  a  trade. 

•  • 

1882.  ALLEN,  C.  A.    The  Birds.    New  Hampshire  Agricultural 
Report,  1881,  pages  269-282. 

Discussions  on  the  following  topics:  Useful  birds;  warblers, 
fly-catchers,  swallows,  creepers,  woodpeckers,  and  thrushes. 
Singular  habits  of  birds;  the  cow  bunting.  Birds  injurious  to 
farmers,  a  list  comprising  the  crow  and  blue  jay,  species  of 
hawks  (Cooper's,  duck,  pigeon,  sparrow,  sharp-shinned,  gos-, 
red-tailed,  red-shouldered),  and  two  species  of  owls  (horned 
and  eared).  Plumage  birds;  descriptions  of  some  of  the 
brightest-colored  birds  occurring  in  New  Hampshire. 

1882.  FORBES,  S.  A.  The  Ornitholigical  Balance  Wheel. 
Transactions  Illinois  State  Horticultural  Society,  1881, 
new  series,  vol.  xv.,  pages  120-131.  Extract  Report  State 
Horticultural  Society,  Michigan.  1881,  page  203.  Pacific 
Rural  Press,  January  21,  1882.  Shawnee  News,  Febru- 
ary 13,  1882. 

Relations  of  birds  to  army-worms,  canker-worms,  and  chinch- 
bugs. 

1882.  KING,  F.  H.  Economic  Relations  of  Wisconsin  Birds. 
Geological  Survey  of  Wisconsin,  vol.  i.,  pages  441-610. 

An  elaborate  report  giving  results  of  investigations  of  many 
birds. 


336  APPENDIX   IV. 

1882.  SLADE.  ELISHA.  Food  of  the  Nestlings  of  Turdus  mi- 
gratorius.  American  Naturalist,  vol.  xvi.,  page  1007. 

Animal    food — insects    in    all    stages    of    development — later 
broods,  all  kinds  of  fruits  growing  in  the  garden. 

l/1882.    STEARNS,  R.  E.  C.    Wild  Geese  as  Pests.    American  Natu- 
ralist, vol.  xvi.,  page  326. 

Pull  up  the  young  wheat  in  the  grain-fields  of  the  Upper 
San  Joaquin  Valley,  California. 

1882.  WHEATON,  J.  M.    Report  on  the  Birds  of  Ohio.    Geologi- 
cal Survey  of  Ohio,  vol.  iv.,  pages  187-628. 

An  elaborate  report,  with  many  references  to  economic  rela- 
tions. First  published  separately  in  1879. 

1883.  FORBES,  S.  A.    The  Food  Relations  of  the  Carabidae  and 
the  Coccinellidae.    Bulletin  Illinois  State  Laboratory  Nat- 
ural History,  vol.  i.,  No.  6,  pages  33-64. 

Record  of  studies  with  reference  to  food  of  ground-beetles  and 
lady-beetles,  and  their  relations  to  birds. 

1883.  FORBES,  S.  A.  The  Regulative  Action  of  Birds  upon  In- 
sect Oscillations.  Bulletin  Illinois  State  Laboratory  Nat- 
ural History,  vol.  i.,  No.  6,  pages  3-32. 

Results  of  investigation  of  food  of  birds  in  an  orchard  in- 
fested with  canker-worms. 

1883.  FORBES,  S.  A.  Birds  in  Relation  to  Agriculture.  Stod- 
dard's  Encyclopedia  Americana,  vol.  i.,  pages  131-134. 

A  short  discussion. 

1883.  SLADE,  ELISHA.  Kingbirds  Feeding  their  Young  upon 
Fruits.  American  Naturalist,  vol.  xvii.,  page  887. 

The  parents  fed  their  young  on  fruit  of  honeysuckle,  and 
when  nestlings  were  able  to  fly  they  were  conducted  to  bush 
afid  persisted  until  the  plant  was  stripped. 


APPENDIX   IV.  337 

1883.  STEARNS,  W.  A.  The  Utility  of  Birds  in  Agriculture. 
Xew  Hampshire  Agricultural  Report,  1882,  pages  219- 
238. 

An  address  on  the  economic  importance  of  birds,  treating  of 
classification,  utility  of  birds  in  general,  and  certain  species 
(blue  jay,  Baltimore  oriole,  chickadee,  white-  and  red-bellied 
nuthatch,  etc.)  in  particular,  and  the  utility  of  birds  in  migra- 
tion. 

1883.  STOKER,  F.  H.  A  Caterpillar-eating  Henhawk.  (Buteo 
pennsylvanicus.)  Science,  vol.  i.,  page  168. 

1883.  SOMERS,  J.  On  the  Winter  Food  of  the  Partridge  and 
on  Partridge  Poisoning.  Proceedings  and  Transactions 
Xova  Scotian  Institute  Natural  Science,  vol.  vi.,  Part  1, 
pages  78-84. 

1883.  VAN  OKEN,  A.  G.     The  Hairy  Woodpecker.     American 
Naturalist,  vol.  xvii.,  pages  511-513. 

Reference  to  economic  value. 

1884.  ALDRICH,  CHARLES.     Notes  on  the  Redwing  Blackbird. 
American  Naturalist,  1884,  vol.  xviii.,  pages  309,  310. 

On  its  nesting  habits  and  decrease  in  numbers  through  the 
reclamation  of  wet  lands. 

1884.  Birds  and  Electric  Light.  Forest  and  Stream,  vol.  xxii., 
'page  424. 

Extract  from  the  Winona  (Minnesota)  Republican  of  May 
23,  1884,  giving  account  of  the  destruction  of  large  numbers 
of  birds  killed  by  striking  against  electric  lights  during  two 
nights,  May  20  and  21,  at  Winona,  Minnesota. 

1884.  BYRNE.  Fruit-eating  Birds.  Forest  and  Stream,  vol. 
xxii.,  page  24. 

Arraignment  of  the  robin  and  catbird. 

22 


338  APPENDIX   IV. 

1884.    CAHOON,   J.   C.       Protecting   Song-Birds.      Forest   and 
Stream.,  vol.  xxii.,  page  203. 

In  defence  of  collecting  for  scientific  purposes.  Under  the  same 
heading  is  a  protest  by  H.  W.  C.  against  indiscriminate  egg 
collecting  by  boys  "  as  a  business,"  but  in  favor  of  collecting 
for  scientific  purposes. 

1884.    CHUBB,  A.  B.     Birds  and  Electric  Lights.     Forest  and 
Stream,  vol.  xxii.,  page  26. 

List  of  species  picked  up  at  the  foot  of  electric  light  masts 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

1884.    (COOPER),   C.    (V.)      Insectivorous   Grouse.      Canadian 
Sportsman  and  Naturalist,  vol.  iii.,  page  261. 

A  specimen  of  the  ruffed  grouse  (Bonasa  umbellus) ,  found 
to  have  its  crop  full  of  caterpillars  of  Notodonta  concinna, 
commonly  known  as  the  red-humped  apple-tree  caterpillar. 

1884.    Editorial.      The   Sacrifice   of   Song-Birds.      Forest   and 
Stream,  vol.  xxii.,  August  7,  page  21. 
For  millinery  purposes. 

1884.    Editorial.       Domesticating     Game-Birds.       Forest    and 
Stream,  vol.  xxi.,  No.  14,  page  264. 

Notes  on  the  ruffed  grouse,  the  pintail  grouse,  and  the  com- 
mon quail. 

1884.    Editorial.    The  Destruction  of  Small  Birds.    Forest  and 
Stream,  vol.  xxii..  page  24. 

Statistics  relating  to  the  appalling  magnitude  of  the  milli- 
nery trade  in  bird-skins. 

1884.    G.  M.  S.    The  Migratory  Quail.    Forest  and  Stream,  vol. 
xxii.,  page  385, 

Birds  turned  loose  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  two  years 
ago,  have  raised  young,  and  are  still  there  and  are  there  to  stay. 

1884.    HORSFORD,  B.     The  Yellow-Bellied  Woodpecker.    Forest 
and  Stream,  vol.  xx.,  No.  7,  page  124. 
Kills  trees  by  girdling  them. 


APPENDIX   IV.  339 

1884.  "  MERLIN."  Protect  the  Small  Birds.  Forest  and 
Stream,  February  28,  page  83. 

Against  the  "  mania"  for  possession  of  immense  series  of 
birds'  eggs  and  skins. 

1884.  "  NESSMUCK."  Robins  and  Strawberries.  Forest  and 
Stream,  vol.  xxii.,  September  25,  page  164. 

Verdict  heavily  against  the  robin. 

1884.  XOE,  FLETCHER  M.  Are  Owls  Beneficial  to  the  Farmer? 
Also  notes  on  the  species  in  Indiana.  Indiana  Farmer, 
July  5,  1884. 

1884.  "  PICKETT."  Fruit-Eating  Birds.  Forest  and  Stream, 
vol.  xxii.,  August  28,  page  83. 

Statistical  table  showing  contents  of  stomachs  of  various 
species. 

1884.  PROUT,  J.  S.  Acclimation  of  Foreign  Birds  (in  the 
United  States).  Forest  and  Stream,  vol.  xxii.,  page  364. 

In  view  of  the  unsuccessful  attempts  with  the  European 
quail,  skylark,  etc.,  it  is  suggested  that  such  birds  should  be 
turned  out  in  the  South  (Florida,  Louisiana,  Mexico),  instead 
of  the  North. 

1884.  K.  T.  The  Robin  as  a  Game  Bird.  Forest  and  Stream, 
vol.  xxii.,  September  4,  page  105. 

1884.  RAGSDALE,  G.  H.  A  Plea  for  the  Hawks.  American 
Field,  vol.  xxi.,  March  22,  page  281. 

Urging  discrimination  in  the  slaughter  of  these  birds,  the 
greater  part  of  which  are  beneficial,  they  subsisting  chiefly  upon 
noxious  mammals  and  insects. 

1884.  [Special.]  Small  Bird  Destruction.  Forest  and  Stream, 
vol.  xxii.,  September  11,  page  123. 

Forty  thousand  tern  skins  taken  in  Massachusetts  sent 
during  the  past  year  to  Liverpool  for  millinery  purposes.  Com- 
ment also  on  the  destruction  of  woodpeckers  and  other  small 
birds  which  fall  victims  to  the  gunning  craze. 


340  APPENDIX   IV. 

1884.  WARREN,  HARRY.  Diurnal  Rapacious  Birds.  (With  spe- 
cial reference  to  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.)  Agri- 
culture of  Pennsylvania,  1883  (1884),  pages  96-112. 

A  very  important  paper  on  the  food  of  various  hawks,  with 
report  of  numerous  examinations  of  the  contents  of  stomachs. 

1884.  WEED,  CLARENCE  M.  Does  the  Crow  Blackbird  eat  Cray- 
fish? American  Naturalist,  vol.  xviii.,  page  832. 

Part  of  a  crayfish  was  found  in  the  stomach  of  a  young  crow 
blackbird. 

1884.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.  The  Food  of  Young  Birds. 
Report  Michigan  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1884.  Also 
Report  Michigan  State  Horticultural  Society,  1884. 

Report  on   food   of   nestling   catbirds,   robins,   bluebirds,   and 
crow  blackbirds,  with  discussion  of  economic  relations. 


i/  1885.    BENNETT,  GEO.  B.    The  Lesson  of  a  Market.    Forest  and 
Stream.,  vol.  xxiv.,  June  4,  pages  366,  367. 

An  account  of  the  small  birds  exposed  for  sale  in  the  market 
at  Norfolk,  Virginia. 

1885.  BROWN,  E.  L.  An  Insectivorous  Kite.  The  Naturalist, 
vol.  i.,  No.  3,  page  125. 

1885.  DURY,  CHARLES.  Notes  on  the  Food  of  Raptorial  Birds. 
Journal  of  Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History,  vol. 
viii.,  pages  62-67.  Also  reprinted  in  Random  Notes  on 
Natural  History,  vol.  i.,  No.  8. 

Notes  on  the  contents  of  stomachs  of  various  species  of  hawks 
and  owls. 

1885.  HAYWARD,  R.  Curious  Food  of  the  Kingfisher.  The 
Auk,  vol.  ii.,  page  311. 

Found  in  stomach,  fragments  of  various  beetles  belonging  to 
the  families  Carabidae,  Dytiscidae,  and  Scarabaeidae. 


APPENDIX   IV.  341 

1885.  NOBLE,  G.  Destructive  Electric-Light  Towers.  Forest 
and  Stream,  vol.  xxv.,  November  12,,  page  305. 

During  a  rainy  night  in  October  one  hundred  and  five  birds 
were  picked  up  under  one  light  tower  in  Savannah,  Ga. 

1885.  NOE,  FLETCHER  M.  The  Value  of  Birds  as  Insect  De- 
stroyers. Indiana  Farmer,  January  17,  1885.  (Abstract 
of  paper  before  State  Board  of  Agriculture.) 

1885.  WARREN,  B.  H.  Blackbird's  Food.  Facts  from  the  diary 
of  a  field-working  naturalist,  showing  the  piscivorous 
habit  of  two  species  of  the  genus  Quiscalus.  Agriculture 
of  Pennsylvania,  Eeport  for  1885,  pages  157-159. 

Statistics   of   examinations   of   stomachs   of   numerous    speci- 
mens of  Quiscalus  purpureus  and  Quiscalus  major. 

1885.  WARREN,  B.  H.  Birds'  Food.  Agriculture  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, pages  150-156. 

On  the  food  of  robin  and  catbird. 

1885.  "  X."     Foreign   Game  Birds  in   America.     Forest  and 
Stream,  vol.  xxv.,  September  3,  pages  103,  104. 

An  important  historical  paper  on  the  subject. 

1886.  AMORY,  CHARLES  F.     That  Thieving  Rice-Bird.    Forest 
and  Stream,  vol.  xxvii.,  No.  15,  November  4,  pages  283, 
284. 

On  its  probable  utility  as  well  as  destructiveness. 

1886.  BOWLES,  E.  D.  English  Sparrow  as  Egg  Robber.  Forest 
and  Stream,  vol.  xxvi.,  page  5,  January  28,  1886. 

1886.  BUTLER,  A.  W.  The  Periodical  Cicada  in  Southeastern 
Indiana.  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Di- 
vision of  Entomology,  Bulletin  No.  12,  pages  24-31. 

Refers  to  birds  known  to  eat  cicadas. 


342  APPENDIX   IV. 

•/1886.    CHAPMAN,  FRANK  M.     Birds  and  Bonnets.    Forest  and 
Stream,  vol.  xxvi.,  No.  6,  February  25,  page  84. 

List  of  birds  seen  on  women's  hats  in  an  afternoon's  walk  in 
New  York  City. 

1886.  DURY,  CHARLES,  FISHER,  W.  H.,  WARDEN,  R.  H.,  LANG- 
DON,  F.  W.,  JAMES,  J.  F.  Papers  on  the  Destruction  of 
Native  Birds.  Journal  of  the  Cincinnati  Society  Natural 
History,  vol.  ix.,  pages  163-224. 

An  extended  discussion  of  the  subject. 

1886.  Editorial.  A  Use  for  Falconry.  Forest  and  Stream,  vol. 
xxvii.,  No.  13,  October  21,  page  241. 

Trained  hawks  suggested  as  a  means  of  protecting  rice-fields 
from  the  depredations  of  the  rice-birds. 

1886.  Editorial.  Snipe  Decoration.  Forest  and  Stream,  vol. 
xxvii.,  No.  15,  November  4,  page  281. 

Use  of  snipe  and  migratory  game-birds  for  millinery  pur- 
poses in  lieu  of  song-birds. 

1886.  GRANT,  W.  G.  The  Terns  of  Matinicus  Rock  (Coast  of 
Maine).  Forest  and  Stream,  vol.  xxvii.,  No.  25,  January 
13,  page  485. 

On  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  terns  at  this  point  for  milli- 
nery purposes  by  C.  E.  Cahoon,  of  Taunton,  Massachusetts. 

1886.  MILLER,  WARNER.  Ravages  of  Rice-Birds.  Congressional 
Record,  49th  Congress,  June  11,  1886,  page  5747. 

A  loss  of  six  dollars  and  eighty-seven  cents  per  acre  by  the 
rice-birds  to  the  rice  crop  and  the  total  annual  loss  to  one 
plantation  is  estimated  at  eight  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars. 

1886.  NOE,  FLETCHER  M.  Notes  on  the  Destruction  of  Indiana 
Birds  for  Millinery  Purposes.  Indianapolis  News,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1886. 


APPENDIX   IV.  343 

1886.  THOMPSON,   MAURICE.     Some   Song  Birds  of  Indiana. 
Keport  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  1885,  pages 

24:7-252. 

1887.  FISHER,  A.  K.     Hawks  and  Owls.    American  Field,  vol. 
xxvii.,  page  247. 

Notes  on  economic  value. 

1887.    HAY,  0.   P.     The  Red-headed  Woodpecker  a  Hoarder. 
The  Auk,  vol.  iv.,  page  193. 

An  insect-eating  species,  and  during  winter  the  birds  avail 
themselves  of  grain,  grass-seeds,  and  the  softer  nuts.  Some  eat 
fruit  and  berries. 

1887.    MARSHALL,   WILLIAM.     Birds   and   their   Daily   Bread. 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xxx.,  page  600. 
Food  of  birds  very  diversified. 

1887.  MERRIAM,  C.  H.    Report  of  the  Ornithologist  and  Mam- 
malogist.      United    States    Department    of    Agriculture, 
Report,  1886,  pages  227-258. 

Notes  on  importance  of  subject,  progress  of  work,  and  copies 
of  circular  letters  sent  to  various  classes  of  agriculturists 
throughout  the  country.  Extracts  from  the  answers  received 
have  served  as  the  basis  for  an  article  on  the  English  sparrow, 
its  introduction,  rate  of  increase,  rate  of  spread,  relations  to 
other  birds,  and  economic  importance  as  an  enemy  to  the  gar- 
dener and  fruit-grower,  effects  on  agriculture,  failure  to  reduce 
the  numbers  of  caterpillars,  and  recommendations  for  protec- 
tive legislation.  On  the  rice-bird,  its  ravages  and  habits,  and 
on  the  distribution  and  migration  of  birds. 

1888.  BAILEY,  VERNON.     Report  of  Some  of  the  Results  of  a 
Trip  through  Part  of  Minnesota  and  Dakota,     United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Annual  Report,  1887, 
page  426. 

Notes  on  damage  done  by  the  yellow-headed  blackbird  by 
devouring  grain,  both  in  planting  and  harvesting  seasons.  Also 
notes  on  distribution  and  habits  of  red-winged  blackbird,  purple 
grackle,  Brewer's  blackbird,  cow-bird,  bobolink,  and  Franklin's 
gull. 


344  APPENDIX   IV. 

1888.  FISHER,. A.  K.  Food  of  Hawks  and  Owls.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Annual  Report,  1887,  pages 
402-422. 

Statements  of  the  stomach  contents  of  more  than  one  thou- 
sand hawks  and  owls.  The  following  species  are  mentioned: 
Swallow-tailed  kite,  Mississippi  kite,  marsh-hawk,  sharp- 
shinned  hawk,  Cooper's  hawk,  goshawk,  red-tailed  hawk,  red- 
shouldered  hawk,  Swainson's  hawk,  broad-winged  hawk,  rough- 
legged  hawk,  golden  eagle,  bald  eagle;  prairie  falcon,  duck 
hawk,  pigeon  hawk,  sparrow  hawk,  barn  owl,  long-eared  owl, 
short-eared  owl,  barred  owl,  Florida  barred  owl,  sawwhet  owl, 
screech  owl,  great  horned  owl,  snowy  owl,  hawk  owl,  and  bur- 
rowing owl.  Only  a  few  of  these  species  were  found  to  be 
injurious. 

1888.  FISHER,  A.  K.  Experiments  in  Poisoning.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Annual  Report,  1887, 
pages  423-426. 

Details  of  experiments  with  strychnine  and  arsenic  in  various 
forms  and  corrosive  sublimate  as  poisons  for  birds. 

1888.    FISHER,  A.  K.    Notes  on  the  Depredations  of  Blackbirds 
and  Gophers  in  Northern  Iowa  and  Southern  Minnesota. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Annual  Report, 
1887,  pages  454-456. 
Injuries  in  fall  of  1887. 

1888.  WARREN,  B.  H.     Report  on  the  Birds  of  Pennsylvania, 
with  special  reference  to  food  habits.     Harrisburg,  1888, 
pages  i>xii.,  1-260. 

An  elaborate  report  based  on  the  examination  of  over  three 
thousand  stomachs.  Illustrated  with  fifty  plates.  A  revised 
and  enlarged  edition  covering  four  hundred  and  fifty  pages  was 
published  in  1890.  The  notes  on  food  materials  are  unusually 
complete. 

1889.  BAKER,  F.  C.    Notes  on  the  Food  of  Birds.    Proceedings 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  pages  266- 
270. 

Upwards  of  three  hundred  stomachs  examined  in  Florida. 


APPENDIX   IV.  345 

1889.  BARROWS,  W.  B.  The  Rose-breasted  Grosbeak.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1888,  pages 
535,  536. 

Extracts  from  correspondence  tend  to  prove  this  species  a 
valuable  friend  to  the  farmer  from  the  fact  of  its  feeding  freely 
on  the  Colorado  potato-beetle. 

1889.  BARROWS,  W.  B.  The  Food  of  Crows.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1888,  pages  498-535. 

Short  introduction,  followed  by  a  long  discussion  on  both  the 
common  and  fish-crow,  with  many  extracts  from  correspondence. 
Information  has  been  collected  on  distribution  of  the  crows, 
injury  to  various  cereals,  damage  to  other  crops,  other  vege- 
table food,  distribution  of  noxious  seeds,  as  a  destroyer  of  eggs 
and  young  of  poultry  and  wild  birds,  insect  food,  as  an  enemy 
to  grasshoppers,  as  an  enemy  to  potato  beetles,  insect  food  as 
revealed  by  an  examination  of  the  stomachs,  as  an  enemy  to 
field  mice,  miscellaneous  animal  food,  and  as  a  scavenger.  The 
paper  is  closed  by  the  results  in  detail  of  the  examination  of 
a  large  number  of  stomachs  of  the  common  and  a  few  of  the  fish- 
crow. 

1889.  BLATCHLEY,  W.  S.  Our  Feathered  Friends  of  Indiana. 
A  series  of  five  articles  in  Indiana  Farmer,  under  dates 
of  May  4,  May  18,  May  25,  and  November  23,  1889,  and 
March  29,  1890. 

1889.  FISHER,  A.  K.  The  Sparrow  Hawk.  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  Report,  1888. 

Range  and  habits,  extracts  from  correspondence  and  account 
of  the  contents  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  stomachs  from 
various  localities. 

1889.  FISHER,  A.  K.  The  Short-eared  Owl.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1888,  pages  496- 
498. 

Short  account  of  the  habits  and  food  of  this  species,  with 
extracts  from  correspondence. 


346  APPENDIX   IV. 

1889.  MERRIAM,  C.  H.  Introduced  Pheasants.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1888,  pages  484-488. 

Account  of  the  introduction  of  certain  game-birds  into  the 
western  portion  of  the  United  States,  and  extract  from  corre- 
spondence in  regard  to  them. 

1889.  STRODE,  W.  S.    Food  of  the  Owls.    American  Naturalist, 
vol.  xxiii.,  pages  17-24. 

Treats  especially  of  great  horned  owl. 

1890.  COOK,  C.  B.    The  English  Sparrow.     Michigan  Agricul- 
tural Experiment  Station,  Bulletin  62,  May,  1890. 

General  notes  on  English  sparrow;  description;  native  birds 
likely  to  be  mistaken  for  it,  and  means  of  destruction. 

1890.  FISHER,  A.  K.  A  Word  for  the  Hawks  and  Owls.  The 
Observer,  Portland,  Connecticut,  vol.  i.,  No.  6. 

Economic  value  of  these  birds. 

1890.  FISHER,  A.   K.     The  Marsh  Hawk,   Screech  Owl,  and 
Flammulated  Screech  Owl.     United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Report,  1889,  pages  370-376. 

Discussion  of  the  distribution  and  habits  of  these  species, 
with  extracts  from  various  publications. 

1891.  BARROWS.  W.  B.    Seed-Planting  by  Birds.    United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1890,  pages  280-285. 

Discussion  of  the  subject  in  various  phases  and  statement  of 
some  of  the  problems  to  be  solved. 

1891.  BOLLES,  FRANK.  Yellow-bellied  Woodpeckers  and  Their 
Uninvited  Guests.  The  Auk,  vol.  viii.,  pages  256-270. 

1891.  BUTLER,  AMOS  W.  Our  Birds  and  What  they  do  for  the 
Farmer.  Report  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  Indiana, 
1890,  pages  113-125.  Also  issued  separately  in  pamphlet 
form. 


APPENDIX   IV.  347 

1891.  Goss,  X.  S.  History  of  the  Birds  of  Kansas.  Topeka, 
George  W.  Crane  &  Co.,  pages  1-693. 

Many  references  to  food  habits. 

1891.  MACKAY,  GEORGE  H.  Habits  of  the  Golden  Plover  (Cha- 
radrius  dominicus)  in  Massachusetts.  The  Auk,  vol.  viii., 
pages  17-24. 

With  paragraph  on  feeding  habits,  pages  18,  19. 

1891.  MACKAY,  GEORGE  H.  Habits  of  the  Scoters.  The  Auk, 
vol.  viii.,  pages  256-270. 

1891.  MERRIAM,  C.  HART.  Birds  which  Feed  on  Mulberries. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1890, 
page  285. 

List  of  twenty-six  species  of  birds  which  had  been  observed 
feeding  upon  mulberries  by  Dr.  A.  K.  Fisher  and  the  author. 

1891.  Russ,  CARL.     Take  Care  of  the  Birds.    Popular  Science 
Monthly.,  vol.  xxxix.,  page  687. 

A  plea  for  bird  protection. 

1892.  BENDIRE,  CHARLES.     Life  Histories  of  North  American 
Birds.     Washington,  United   States  National  Museum, 
Special  Bulletin,  No.  1,  pages  i.-viii.,  1-446,  plates  I. -XII. 

Elaborate  accounts,  with  special  reference  to  breeding  habits 
and  eggs  of  the  gallinaceous  birds  and  the  birds  of  prey. 
Eggs  illustrated  in  twelve  plates.  Many  references  to  feeding 
habits. 

1892.  BOLLES,  FRANK.  Young  Sapsuckers  in  Captivity.  The 
Auk,  vol.  ix.,  pages  109-119. 

1892.  LANGILLE,  J.  HIBBERT.  Our  Birds  in  their  Haunts. 
New  York:  Orange  Judd  Co.,  pages  1-630. 

A  popular,  illustrated  treatise  on  the  birds  of  Eastern  North 
America.  Copyrighted  in  1884. 


348  APPENDIX   IV. 

1892.  MACKAY,  GEORGE  H.  Habits  of  the  American  Herring 
Gull  in  New  England.  The  Auk,  vol.  ix.,  pages  221-228. 

Contains  a  few  remarks  on  feeding  habits. 

1892.  MILLER,  H.  H.  Food  Habits  of  Hawks  and  Owls  in 
Maryland.  Shooting  and  Fishing,  vol.  xii.,  No.  19,  page 
366. 

1892.  WILCOX,  E.  V.     The  Food  of  the  Robin.     Ohio  Agricul- 
tural Experiment  Station,  Bulletin  43,  September,  1892, 
pages  115-131. 

Details  of  a  somewhat  extended  study  of  the  food  of  the  robin 
as  indicated  by  a  study  of  stomach  contents.  A  total  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  stomachs  were  examined  of  birds 
killed  during  the  spring  and  summer  months.  In  the  summary 
it  is  estimated  that  the  beneficial  species  of  fruit  and  insects 
eaten  will  amount  to  52.4  per  cent,  of  the  total,  the  injurious  to 
18.6  per  cent.,  while  the  remainder  consists  of  species  of  which 
the  economic  importance  is  as  yet  unknown. 

1893.  BARROWS,  W.  B.    The  Food  of  the  Horned  Larks  or  Shore 
Larks   (Otocoris).     United  States  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, Report,  1892,  pages  193-197. 

Account  of  the  examination  of  the  stomachs  of  fifty-nine 
horned  larks,  and  summary  of  results. 

1893.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  Food  Habits  of  the  Cedar-Bird.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Report,  1892,  pages 
197-200. 

Account  of  the  examination  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
stomachs  of  the  common  cedar  waxwing,  with  a  short  summary 
of  the  result. 

1893.  BREWSTER,  WILLIAM.  A  Brood  of  Young  Flickers  and 
How  they  were  Fed.  The  Auk,  vol.  x.,  pages  231-236. 

1893.  BUTLER,  A.  W.  Further  Notes  on  the  Evening  Grosbeak. 
The  Auk,  vol.  x.,  pages  155-157. 

General  notes  with  references  to  feeding. 


APPENDIX   IV.  349 

1893.  Editorial.  Feathered  Women.  The  Times,  London,  Eng- 
land, October  17,  1893. 

Leading  article  protesting  against  use  of  birds  for  millinery 
purposes. 

1893.  FISHER,  A.  K.  The  Hawks  and  Owls  of  the  United  States 
in  their  Relation  to  Agriculture.  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Ornithology  and  Mam- 
malogy, Bulletin  No.  3,  1893,  pages  1-210,  plates  1-26. 

A  remarkable  volume  of  more  than  two  hundred  pages,  with 
full  discussion  of  feeding  habits  of  each  species,  and  a  colored 
plate  illustrating  its  appearance. 


1893.  HINE,  JANE  L.  Birds  that  Befriend  Our  Forest  Trees. 
A  series  of  chapters  irregularly  published  in  the  Farmers' 
Guide,  Huntington,  Indiana.  Chapter  i.  in  vol.  v.,  No.  1, 
January  1;  chapter  ii.  in  vol.  v.,  No.  2,  January  15; 
chapter  iii.  in  vol.  v.,  No.  3,  February  1 ;  chapter  iv.  in 
vol.  v.,  No.  4,  February  15;  chapter  v.  in  vol.  v.,  No.  6, 
March  15;  chapter  vi.  in  vol.  v.,  No.  27,  December  15. 

1893.  LUCAS,  F.  A.  Food  of  Humming-birds.  The  Auk,  vol. 
x.,  pages  311-315. 

1893.  McLouTH,  C.  D.  Protection  of  Birds  from  the  Boys. 
Science,  vol.  xxii.,  pages  347-348. 

Recommends  for  schools  (1)  Punishment  of  guilty  by  law; 
(2)  Teaching  of  sentiment;  (3)  Close  study  of  birds;  (4) 
Organizing  societies  for  bird  protection. 

1893.  SHUFELDT,  E.  W.  Some  Eecent  Economic  and  Scientfic 
Questions  in  Ornithology.  Science,  vol.  xxii.,  pages  255- 
256,  November  16,  1893. 

Discusses  causes  for  recent  decrease  in  birds  around  large 
cities  and  remedial  measures  and  legislation. 


350  APPENDIX   IV. 

1893.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.     The  Relations  of  Birds  to 
Carnivorous    Insects.      Proceedings    Society    Promotion 
Agricultural  Science,  Fourteenth  Meeting,  pages  70-74. 

A  general  discussion  showing  incorrectness  of  calling  all 
parasites  and  predaceous  insects  beneficial. 

1894.  BARROWS,  W.  B.     Food  Habits  of  the  Kingbird  or  Bee 
Martin.     United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Re- 
port 1893,  pages  233-234. 

Brief  discussion  of  range,  habits,  and  food  as  indicated  by  a 
study  of  the  stomach  contents. 

1894.  CARD,  F.  W.  Birds  Injuring  Apples.  Garden  and  Forest, 
vol.  vii.,  page  114. 

Brief  mention  of  birds  attacking  the  fruit. 

1894.  HINE,  JANE  L.  Farmers,  Take  Care  of  your  Birds.  The 
Farmers'  Guide,  Huntington,  Indiana,  vol.  vi.,  No.  10, 
May  15,  1894. 

1894.  SMYTH,  E.  A.,  JR.  Are  all  Birds  of  Prey  Injurious  to 
the  Farmer?  Virginia  Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 
Bulletin  38,  pages  23-39. 

Notes  on  the  feeding  habits  of  the  common  hawks  and  owls 
of  Virginia,  largely  compiled  from  "  The  Hawks  and  Owls  of 
the  United  States." 

1894.  TROOP,  JAMES.  Protecting  Fruit  from  Birds.  Purdue 
University  Agricultural  Experiment  Station,  Bulletin  53, 
pages  125-126. 

Details  of  an  experiment  in  the  use  of  netting  to  protect 
cherries  from  the  attacks  of  birds,  in  which  it  was  shown  that 
the  saving  from  its  use  would  pay  for  the  original  cost  the  first 
year,  under  conditions  in  which  the  fruit  is  obliged  to  remain 
upon  the  tree  until  ripe. 

1894.  WINSHIP,  A.  E.  Bird  Day.  Journal  of  Education,  May 
24,  1894. 

Account  of  observance  of  bird  day  in  schools  of  Oil  City, 
Pennsylvania. 


APPENDIX   IV.  351 

1895.  The  American  Crow.  The  Wilson  Ornithological  Chap- 
ter of  the  Agassiz  Association,  Bulletin  No.  5,  March, 
1895,  pages  5-42. 

Notably  feeding,  nesting,  roosting,  flight,  relative  abundance. 

1895.  BARROWS,  W.  B.,  and  SCHWARZ,  E.  A.  The  Common 
Crow  in  the  United  States.  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Ornithology  and  Mammalogy, 
Bulletin  Xo.  6,  1895,  pages  1-98. 

General  habits  of  the  crow,  geographic  distribution,  migra- 
tion, crow-roosts;  animal  food  of  the  crow;  methods  of  inves- 
tigation, method  of  examining  stomachs ;  relative  percentages 
of  animal  and  vegetable  food ;  relation  of  the  crow  to  mammals ; 
relation  of  the  crow  to  other  birds;  relation  of  the  crow  to  rep- 
tiles, fishes,  and  invertebrates;  insect  food  of  the  crow;  testimony 
of  correspondents  on  insects  eaten  by  the  crow;  vegetable  food 
of  the  crow, — corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  buckwheat,  mast,  grass 
and  weed  seeds,  wild  rice,  fruit;  protection  of  crops, — tarring 
corn,  use  of  poison,  bounties;  list  of  localities  at  which  crows' 
stomachs  were  collected. 

1895.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  Crow  Blackbirds  and  their  Food.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Yearbook,  1894,  pages 
233-248. 

Discussion  of  the  purple  grackle  and  its  two  subspecies,  the 
bronzed  and  Florida  grackles.  The  following  subjects  are 
treated:  Geographic  range,  observations  regarding  the  diet  of 
the  crow  blackbird,  examinations  of  stomach  contents,  various 
articles  of  bird  diet,  grains  and  fruits  as  blackbird  food,  seeds 
as  bird  food,  food  of  the  young,  and  summary. 

1895.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  Preliminary  Keport  of  the  Food  of  Wood- 
peckers. United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Di- 
vision of  Ornithology  and  Mammalogy,  Bulletin  No.  7, 
pages  1-33.  Eeview  in  American  Naturalist,  vol.  xxx., 
page  496 ;  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  xlix.,  page  573. 

General  remarks  and  table  showing  food  percentages,  followed 
by  short  discussions  of  the  range,  habits,  and  food  of  the  fol- 
lowing species:  downy,  hairy,  red-headed,  red-bellied,  and 
pileated  woodpeckers,  flicker,  and  yellow-bellied  sapsucker. 


352  APPENDIX   IV. 

1895.  BENDIRE,  CHARLES.  The  Cowbirds.  Report  United 
States  National  Museum,  1893,  pages  587-624,  plates  1-3. 

Extended  account  of  the  life  history  of  various  species  of 
cowbirds,  with  especial  reference  to  their  relations  to  other 
birds. 

1895.  BENDIRE,  CHARLES.  Life  Histories  of  Xorth  American 
Birds,  from  the  Parrots  to  the  Grackles.  Washington, 
Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  985,  1895, 
pages  i.-x.,  1-518,  plates  I.-VIL 

A  continuation  of  the  work  listed  above  (1892),  with  many 
references  to  feeding  habits. 

1895.  BLATCHLEY,  W.  S.  Protect  the  Woodpeckers.  Indian- 
apolis Sunday  Journal,  October  27,  1895. 

1895.  FISHER,  A.  K.  Hawks  and  Owls  as  Related  to  the 
Farmer.  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Yearbook,  1894,  pages  215-232. 

Discussion  of  the  economic  importance  of  the  birds  of  prey, 
taking  up  the  subjects  of  cause  of  the  prejudice  against  birds 
of  prey,  some  characteristics  of  rapacious  birds,  food  habits 
of  the  principal  birds  of  prey,  harmless  species  of  hawks  and 
owls,  wholly  beneficial  hawks,  hawks  and  owls  mostly  beneficial, 
and  harmful  hawks  and  owls.  All  the  common  North  Ameri- 
can species  are  discussed. 

1895.  FORBUSH,  E.  H.  Birds  as  Protectors  of  Orchards. 
Massachusetts  Crop  Report,  Bulletin  No.  3,  Series  of 
1895,  pages  20-32.  Also  in  Report  Ontario  Entomological 
Society,  1895,  pages  53-62. 

Notes  on  feeding  habits  of  the  chickadee,  nuthatch,  brown- 
creeper,  downy  woodpecker,  and  others.  Especial  attention  is 
given  to  the  chickadee. 

1895.  HALL,  F.  H.  Birds,  Fruits,  and  Flowers.  National 
Stockman  and  Farmer,  1895,  page  559. 

Discussion  of  value  of  birds  to  fruit-growers.  Experience 
with  Russian  mulberry  in  attracting  birds. 


APPENDIX    IV.  353 

1895.  HUDSON,  W.  H.  (Bird  Protection  and  the  Clergy.) 
English  Society  for  Protection  of  Birds,  Letter  to  Clergy, 
November,  1895.  Eeprint  by  Wisconsin  Audubon  Society, 
1898. 

Discussion  of  use  of  birds  for  millinery  purposes. 

1895.  LUCAS,  F.  A.  The  Tongues  of  Woodpeckers.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Ornithol- 
ogy and  Mammalogy,  Bulletin  No.  7,  pages  33-39,  three 
plates. 

Discussion  of  the  anatomy  of  the  tongues  of  the  various  spe- 
cies of  woodpeckers,  the  variation  in  form  and  relation  of  the 
tongue  to  the  food. 

1895.    WEED,    CLARENCE    M.      The   Robin.      The   Mirror   and 
Farmer  (Manchester,  New  Hampshire),  October  4  and 
11,  1895. 
A  discussion  of  economic  status  of  the  robin. 

1895.  WiNSHiP,  A.  E.    Bird  Day.    The  Outlook,  April  6,  1895, 
page  560. 

Account  of  original  bird  day  at  Oil  City,  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  first  Friday  in  May,  1894.  Plea  for  general  adoption. 

1896.  BABCOCK,  C.  A.    Bird  Day.    Journal  of  Education,  April 
4,  1896. 

1896.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  The  Meadow  Lark  and  Baltimore  Oriole. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Yearbook, 
1895,  pages  419-430. 

Brief  notes  on  distribution  and  habits  of  the  two  birds,  fol- 
lowed by  statements  of  their  food  as  indicated  by  the  examina- 
tions of  a  large  number  of  stomachs.  Almost  three-fourths  of 
the  food  of  the  meadow  lark  was  found  to  consist  of  insects, 
and  of  these  a  very  large  percentage  were  grasshoppers  and 
crickets.  The  accusation  of  pulling  sprouting  grain  and  feeding 
upon  grain  generally  appears  not  without  basis,  but  the  damage 
done  in  this  manner  is  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  num- 
bers of  insects  eaten.  The  food  of  the  oriole  was  found  to  con- 
sist almost  exclusively  of  insects,  and  these  to  a  large  extent  of 
noxious  species.  No  question  can  be  raised  as  to  the  value  of 
this  bird  as  an  insect  destroyer. 
23 


354  APPENDIX   IV. 

1896.  BUTLER,  A.  W.  A  Century  of  Changes  in  the  Aspects  of 
Nature.  President's  Address.  Proceedings  of  the  In- 
diana Academy  of  Science,  1895,  pages  31-42. 

Refers  to  changes  in  avifauna  of  Indiana. 

1896.  CHANSLER,  E.  J.  Our  Feathered  Beauties.  Indiana 
Farmer,  February  15,  1896,  page  6. 

1896.  FISHER,  A.  K.  Food  of  the  Barn  Owl.  Science,  New 
Series,  vol.  iii.,  pages  623-624.  Reprint  in  Forest  and 
Stream,  vol.  xlvi.,  page  492. 

Results  of  studies  of  food. 

1896.  FORBUSH,  E.  H.  The  Crow  in  Massachusetts.  Massa- 
chusetts Board  of  Agriculture,  Crop  Report  Bulletin, 
1896,  No.  4,  pages  24-40. 

General  notes  on  the  American  crow:  migration,  gregarious 
habits,  mating  and  nesting  habits,  digestive  capacity,  food,  the 
protection  of  crops,  summary. 

1896.  HINE,  JANE  L.  Cedar  Waxwing.  The  Farmer's  Guide, 
vol.  viii.,  No.  12,  June  15,  1896. 

1896.  HINE,  JANE  L.  Farm  Birds  in  Northern  Indiana.  The 
Farmer's  Guide,  Huntington,  Ind.,  vol.  viii.  A  series  of 
articles  in  chapters  in  the  following  numbers  of  that 
paper:  No.  3,  February  1,  1896;  No.  4,  February  15; 
No.  5,  March  1;  No.  6,  March  15;  No.  7,  April  1; 
No.  8,  April  15 ;  No.  9,  May  1. 

1896.  KIRKLAND,  A.  H.  The  Army-Worm.  Massachusetts 
Crop  Report,  July,  1896,  page  35. 

List  of  ten  birds  feeding  on  army- worms:  Kingbird,  phcebe, 
bobolink,  cowbird,  red-winged  blackbird,  Baltimore  oriole,  crow 
blackbird,  English  sparrow,  chipping  sparrow,  robin.  Probably 
also  meadow-larks,  crows,  flickers,  quail. 


APPENDIX   IV.  355 

1896.  MERRIAM,  FLORENCE  A.  How  Birds  affect  the  Farm  and 
Garden.  Forest  and  Stream,  vol.  xlvii.,  pages  103.,  123, 
144. 

An  important  summary,  based  on  the  investigations  of  the 
Division  of  Biological  Survey. 

1896.  OBERHOLSER,  H.  C.  A  preliminary  list  of  the  birds  of 
Wayne  County,  Ohio.  Ohio  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station,  Bulletin  Xo.  4,  Technical  Series,  pages  243-354. 

Notes  on  one  hundred  and  eighty-three  species  of  birds  known 
to  inhabit  this  region,  together  with  a  list  of  the  species  thought 
to  be  occasional  visitors.  Notes  on  food  of  a  few  species. 

1896.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Bird  Day  in  the  Schools.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Biological  Sur- 
vey, Circular  No.  17. 

History  of  the  movement;    discussion  of  object  and  value. 

1896.  RICHARDS,  HARRIET.  The  Birds  at  Dinner.  Popular 
Science  Monthly,  vol.  xlix.,  pages  337-342. 

Nearly  all  birds  feed  their  young  on  insects,  worms,  or  some 
form  of  animal  food,  and  also  depend  mainly  on  that  food  for 
themselves  during  nesting  season,  although  at  other  seasons 
their  favorite  food  may  be  grains  and  berries. 

1896.  WARREN,  B.  H.     Our  Home  Birds.     Pennsylvania  Agri- 
cultural Experiment  Station  Report,  1895,  pages  244-265. 

Popular  account  of  the  birds  of  Pennsylvania  and  discussion 
of  the  value  of  birds  as  destroyers  of  vermin  and  the  danger  of 
destroying  them. 

1897.  ANTHONY,  A.  W.     The  Roadrunner  as  a  Destroyer  of 
Caterpillars.     The  Auk,  vol.  xiv.,  page  217. 

Roadrunners  in  California  feed  on  caterpillars  of  Agraulis 
vanillce,  which  attack  leaves  of  passion  vines. 

1897.  BAILEY,  WILLIAM  L.  Disgorgement  of  Cherry  Stones 
again  Noted.  The  Auk,  vol.  xiv.,  pages  412,  413. 

Cherry  stones  disgorged  by  young  robins,  catbirds,  and  wood 
robins  (thrush?). 


356  APPENDIX   IV. 

1897.  BEAL,  F-.  E.  L.  Recent  Investigations  of  the  Food  of 
European  Birds.  The  Aukt  vol.  xiv.,  pages  8-14. 

Review  of  papers  by  Hollrung  and  Gilmour;  remarks  on 
methods  of  estimating  percentages  of  food. 

1897.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  The  Blue  Jay  and  its  Food.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Yearbook,  1896,  pages 
197-206. 

General  remarks  on  habits  and  distribution  of  blue  jay,  fol- 
lowed by  an  account  of  examination  of  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
two  stomachs.  The  bulk  ot  the  food  was  found  to  be  of  vegetable 
origin,  namely  mast,  the  amount  of  fruit  and  cereals  being 
small.  In  certain  seasons  of  the  year  many  insects  were  eaten, 
few  of  them  beneficial.  But  a  very  small  percentage  of  the 
whole  consisted  of  vertebrate  remains,  thus  giving  little  support 
to  the  reports  of  damage  done  by  eating  small  birds,  nor  were 
birds'  eggs  eaten  to  any  extent.  The  relative  proportions  of 
the  various  foods  varied  remarkably  from  season  to  season. 

1897.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  Some  Common  Birds  in  their  Relation 
to  Agriculture.  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Farmer's  Bulletin,  No.  54. 

A  short  popular  discussion  of  the  food  habits  of  a  number 
of  birds  of  more  or  less  importance  to  the  farmer.  Treats 
of  the  black  and  the  yellow-billed  cuckoos;  the  downy,  golden- 
winged,  hairy,  red-shafted,  and  red-headed  woodpeckers;  the 
yellow-bellied  woodpecker  or  sapsucker;  the  kingbird;  the 
phoebe;  the  blue  jay;  the  bobolink  or  rice-bird;  the  red-winged 
blackbird ;  the  meadow-lark  or  old  field-lark ;  the  Baltimore 
oriole;  the  crow  blackbird;  the  song,  chipping,  field,  and  tree 
sparrows;  the  snowbird;  the  rose-breasted  grosbeak,  the  barn, 
cliff,  and  white-bellied  swallows,  and  the  martin ;  the  cedar-bird ; 
the  cat-bird ;  the  brown  thrasher ;  the  house-wren ;  the  robin  ; 
and  the  bluebird.  Most  of  these  species  are  shown  to  be  highly 
beneficial  in  their  feeding  habits. 

1897.  BRUNER,  L.  The  Birds  of  Nebraska.  Nebraska  State 
Horticultural  Society  Report,  1896,  pages  98-178,  fifty- 
one  figures. 

Notes  on  the  distribution,  food  habits,  etc.,  of  birds'  of  Ne- 
braska, with  list  of  forms  found  within  the  State.  Corrected 
to  April,  1896. 


APPENDIX   IV.  357 

1897.  BUTCHER,  WILLIAM.  Beport  of  A.  0.  U.  Committee  on 
Protection  of  North  American  Birds.  The  Auk,  vol.  xiv., 
pages  21-32. 

Report  of  progress  during  the  year. 

1897.  GRINNELL,  JOSEPH.  Disgorgement  among  Song  Birds. 
The  Auk,  vol.  xiv.,  page  318. 

Robins  and  cedar-birds  disgorge  seeds  of  pepper-tree. 

1897.  JONES,  LYNDS.  The  Oberlin  Grackle  Eoost.  The  Wilson 
Bulletin,  vol.  ix.,  0.  S.  Bulletin  No.  15,  July  30,  1897, 
pages  39-56. 

Habits  during  courtship  and  nesting;  how  the  young  are 
taken  to  the  roost;  eat  fruit,  then  ripening  corn;  time  of 
roosting;  in  the  North  the  breeding  season  is  beneficial  to  agri- 
culture; the  roosting  season  the  reverse. 

1897.  JUDD,  SYLVESTER  D.  Methods  in  Economic  Ornithology, 
•with  Special  Reference  to  the  Catbird.  American  Natu- 
ralist, vol.  xxxi.,  pages  392-397. 

Proportions  of  foods  ascertained  by  examination  of  stomach 
contents;  preferences  by  field  observations;  shy  birds  caged 
and  various  foods  offered. 

1897.  KENYOX,  F.  C.  The  English  Sparrow  not  always  a  Nui- 
sance. American  Naturalist.,  vol.  xxxi.,  page  73. 

Dr.  Judd  reports  fondness  for  dandelion  seeds;  saw  the  spar- 
row catch  and  devour  a  cicada.  His  ability  to  catch  insects  on 
wing  discussed. 

1897.  KIRKLAND,  A.  H.  The  Sugar  Maple  Borer.  Massachu- 
setts Crop  Report,  June,  1897,  page  32. 

Presumptive  evidence  that  hairy  woodpecker,  downy  wood- 
pecker, and  flicker  feed  on  larvae  of  Plagionotus  speciosus. 

1897.  LUCAS,  F.  A.  The  Tongues  of  Birds.  United  States 
National  Museum,  Report  for  1895,  pages  1001-1019. 

Discusses  the  relation  of  the  tongue  to  the  hyoid,  and  the 
different  forms  of  development  of  the  two  in  the  various  groups 
of  birds. 


358  APPENDIX   IV. 

1897.  OWEN,  DANIEL  E.  Notes  on  a  Captive  Hermit  Thrush. 
The  Auk,  vol.  xiv.,  pages  1-8. 

Account  of  feeding  habits  of  hermit  thrush;  method  of  de- 
termining rate  of  digestion. 

1897.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Extermination  of  Noxious  Animals  by 
Bounties.  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Yearbook,  1896,  pages  55-68. 

History  of  bounty  system  in  the  United  States  and  other  coun- 
tries. Bounties  on  birds  almost  invariably  pernicious. 

1897.  PROCTOR,  THOMAS.  Disgorgement  among  Song  Birds. 
Tine  Auk,  vol.  xiv.,  page  412. 

Wood  thrushes  and  other  true  thrushes  disgorge  cherry  pits; 
disgorgement  also  noticed  in  red-eyed  vireo,  myrtle  bird,  and 
European  robin. 

1897.  EEED,  J.  HARRIS.  Notes  on  the  American  Barn  Owl  in 
Eastern  Pennsylvania.  The  Auk,  vol.  xiv.,  pages  374- 
383. 

Occurrence,  nesting  habits,  feeding  habits. 

1897.  SILLOWAY,  P.  M.  Sketches  of  some  Common  Birds.  Cin- 
cinnati. The  Editor  Publishing  Company.  Pages  1-331. 

Many  references  to  food  habits. 

1897.  .WARREN,  B.  H.    The  Army-Worm.    Report  Pennsylvania 

State  College,  1896,  pages  164-220. 

Record  of  studies  of  food  of  many  birds  during  an  army-worm 
outbreak,  showing  that  nearly  all  fed  freely  on  the  pests. 

1898.  ADAMS,  STEPHEN  J.    Swallow  Investigations.    The  Wil- 
son Bulletin,  vol.  x.,  0.  S.  No.  20,  May  30,  1898,  pages 
42-43. 

They  take  enormous  numbers  of  insects;  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
all  taken  on  the  wing.  Barn  swallows  take  enormous  numbers 
of  apple-maggot  flies. 


APPENDIX   IV.  359 

1898.  BAILEY,  L.  H.  The  Birds  and  I.  Cornell  University, 
Teachers'  Leaflet,  No.  10. 

Popular  discussion  of  relations  of  birds  to  children.  Pictures 
of  many  bird-houses. 

1898.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  Birds  that  Injure  Grain.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Yearbook,  1897,  pages  545- 
354. 

After  a  short  discussion  of  the  damage  done  by  birds  to  the 
wheat  crop  and  the  cause  of  increased  numbers  of  blackbirds, 
the  more  important  noxious  species  are  taken  up  in  detail.  The 
following  are  treated:  Crow,  crow  blackbird,  red-winged  black- 
bird, yellow-headed  blackbird,  rusty  grackle,  cowbird,  mourning 
dove,  California  valley  quail,  horned  lark,  and  certain  imported 
pheasants. 

1898.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  The  Food  of  Cuckoos.  United  States 
Division  of  Biological  Survey,  Bulletin  9,  pages  1-15. 

General  notes  on  North  American  cuckoos,  followed  by  an 
account  of  the  examination  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  stom- 
achs of  both  species.  Food  was  found  to  consist  almost  exclu- 
sively of  animal  matter.  Nearly  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  was 
composed  of  caterpillars,  of  which,  contrary  to  the  usual  habits 
of  birds,  hairy  species  were  in  the  majority.  The  percentage  of 
Orthoptera  ranged  from  three  per  cent,  in  May  to  forty-three  in 
July,  mostly  arboreal  forms,  and  there  were  from  five  to  six 
and  one-half  per  cent,  of  miscellaneous  insects,  beetles  and  bugs 
respectively.  No  particular  support  was  found  to  the  accusation 
that  they  are  in  the  habit  of  sucking  eggs  of  other  birds. 

1898.  BLANCHAN,  NELTJE.  Birds  that  Hunt  and  are  Hunted. 
Xew  York :  Doubleday  &  McClure  Company.  .  Pages 
i.-xii.,  1-359. 

Life  histories  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  birds  of  prey,  game 
birds,  and  water  fowls,  with  colored  plates  of  many  of  them. 
Much  economic  information. 

1898.  BUTLER,  AMOS  W.  The  Birds  of  Indiana.  Twenty- 
second  Annual  Report  State  Geologist  of  Indiana,  pages 
515-1187. 

A  descriptive  catalogue  of  the  birds  that  have  been  observed 
within  the  State,  with  an  account  of  their  habits.  Much  in- 
formation as  to  food. 


360  APPENDIX   IV. 

1898.    Birds  and  Trees.    Audubon  Society  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut. 

A  four-page  pamphlet  containing  selections  suitable  for  bird 
day. 


1898.    BREWSTER,  WILLIAM.    The  Short-eared  Owls  of  Muskeget 
Island.    The  Auk,  vol.  xv.,  pages  211-213. 

"  Bird  protectors  would  do  well  to  study  more  closely  the  bal- 
ance of  nature."    Notes  on  owls  of  Muskeget  Island. 


1898.    CRAM,  WILLIAM  EVERETT.    Woodpeckers  and  their  Ways. 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  liii.,  pages  339-397. 

Eating  aphides  in  fall. 


1898.  BUTCHER,  WILLIAM  (Chairman).  Report  of  the  A.  0.  IT. 
Committee  on  Protection  of  North  American  Birds.  The 
Auk,  vol.  xv.,  pages  81-114. 

An  extended  discussion  showing  work  in  the  different  States, 
with  general  recommendations. 


1898.  HORNADAY,  W.  T.  The  Destruction  of  Onr  Birds  and 
Mammals.  Second  Annual  Report  of  the  New  York 
Zoological  Society,  pages  77-126. 

A  circular  letter  of  inquiry  was  sent  to  persons  in  various 
States  and  Territories,  and  the  results  are  here  given.  The  sub- 
jects for  investigation  were  the  per  cent,  of  decrease  of  birds  in 
various  localities,  and  the  causes  for  such  decrease.  The  re- 
sults are  given  in  detail. 


1898.    Helps  to  Bird  Study.     Massachusetts  Audubon  Society, 
1898. 

A   pamphlet   of   thirty-two   pages   giving   selections   in   prose 
and  verse  helpful  for  bird-day  programmes. 


APPENDIX   IV.  361 

1898.  JUDD,  SYLVESTER  D.  The  Food  of  Shrikes.  United 
States  Division  of  Biological  Survey,  Bulletin  9,  pages 
15-26. 

General  notes  on  North  American  shrikes,  followed  by  an 
account  of  the  examination  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  stom- 
achs of  both  species.  So  far  as  could  be  determined  from  the 
stomachs  of  sixty-seven  butcher-birds  the  food  closely  resembled 
that  of  the  sparrow-hawk.  About  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  the 
food  consisted  of  mice,  thirty-four  per  cent,  of  small  birds,  in- 
cluding many  English  sparrows,  consisting  almost  wholly  of 
seed-eating  species,  and  the  remainder  of  insects,  mostly  grass- 
hoppers. The  food  of  the  loggerhead  differs  in  the  much 
smaller  percentage  of  mice  and  birds,  about  twenty-four  per 
cent.  The  insects  eaten  consist  largely  of  Orthoptera,  and  in  the 
spring  of  beetles,  many  of  them  predaceous  species.  Both  the 
butcher-bird  and  loggerhead  eat,  to  some  extent,  caterpillars. 

1898.  KELLICOTT,  D.  S.  Feeding  Habits  of  Winter  Birds  of 
Interior  Ohio.  Journal  Columbus  Horticultural  Society, 
vol.  xiii.,  pages  45-51. 

A  brief  discussion  of  feeding  habits  with  list  of  winter  resi- 
dents. 

1898.  LAZENBY,  WILLIAM  R.  Preserve  the  Birds.  Journal  Co- 
lumbus Horticultural  Society,  vol.  xiii.,  pages  44,  45. 

A  brief  discussion  of  benefits  of  birds  and  methods  of  protect- 
ing them. 

1898.  MERRIAM,  FLORENCE  A.  Birds  of  Village  and  Field.  A 
bird  book  for  beginners.  Boston :  Houghton,  Mifflin  & 
Company. 

A  book  of  four  hundred  and  six  pages  with  two  hundred  and 
twenty  illustrations,  giving  considerable  attention  to  the  eco- 
nomic relations  of  the  birds  discussed. 

1898.  NASH,  CHARLES  W.  The  Birds  of  Ontario  in  Relation 
to  Agriculture.  Toronto:  Department  of  Agriculture, 
1898,  pages  1-64. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  economic  status  of  the  common 
birds  of  Ontario;  with  figures  of  many  species. 


362  APPENDIX   IV. 

1898.  SANDERSON,  E.  DWIGHT.  The  Economic  Value  of  the 
White-bellied  Nuthatch  and  Black-capped  Chickadee. 
The  Auk,  vol.  xv.,  pages  144-155. 

Record  of  food  of  twenty-three  nuthatches  in  winter  and  eleven 
in  early  spring,  and  of  nineteen  chickadees  in  winter  and  nine  in 
spring. 

1898.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.  The  Causes  of  the  Decrease 
of  Birds.  Granite  Monthly,  vol.  xxv.,  pages  211-215. 

An  illustrated  discussion  of  the  subject. 

1898.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.  Our  Largest  Standing  Army, 
the  Birds.  Granite  Monthly,  vol.  xxv.,  pages  325-331. 

Discussion  of  regulative  action  of  birds. 

1898.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.  The  Insects  Eaten  by  Birds. 
Agricultural  Education,  vol.  i.,  pages  4-7,  51-53. 

Illustrated  discussion  of  the  insects  most  commonly  fed  upon 
by  birds. 

1898.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.  The  Feeding  Habits  of  the 
Chipping  Sparrow.  New  Hampshire  College  Agricultural 
Experiment  Station,  Bulletin  55,  July,  1898. 

An  illustrated  account  of  a  day's  work  by  a  pair  of  chipping 
sparrows  feeding  three  young.  Nearly  two  hundred  visits  to  the 
nest  were  made. 

1898.  WILLIAMSON,  E.  B.    The  Economic  Importance  of  some 
Common  Birds.    Journal  of  Columbus  Horticultural  So- 
ciety, vol.  xiii.,  pages  33-44. 

Touches  upon  the  economic  importance  of  many  species  of 
North  American  birds,  with  notes  on  feeding  habits  of  some  of 
them  in  Ohio. 

1899.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.     Economic  Relations  of  Birds  and  their 
Food.    Proceedings  Twenty-fourth  Annual  Meeting  New 
Jersey  State  Horticultural  Society,  1899. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  subject. 


APPENDIX   IV.  363 

1899.  CHAPMAN,  FRAXK  M.  Bird  Life.  New  York:  D.Apple- 
ton  &  Co. 

This  admirable  book  contains  a  brief  account  in  Chapter  I.  of 
the  relation  of  birds  to  man. 

1899.  CHAPMAN,  FRANK  M.  The  Passing  of  the  Tern.  Bird 
Lore,  vol.  i.,  pages  205-206. 

Use  of  terns   for   millinery   purposes   leading   to  their   exter- 
mination. 

1899.  CHASE,  VICTOR  P.  A  Blood-thirsty  Blue  Jay.  The  Wil- 
son Bulletin,  vol.  xi.,  0.  S.  No.  27,  July  30,  1899,  pages 
55-56. 

Eats  cherries ;    killed  a  newly-fledged  English  sparrow. 

• 

1899.  GRANT,  ANNIE  M.  Birds.  Keport  Rhode  Island  Board  of 
Agriculture,  1899. 

Discussion  of  economic  value  of  birds. 


1899.  HODGE,  C.  F.,  and  BALL,  HELEN  A.  Our  Common  Birds. 
Suggestions  for  the  Study  of  their  Life  and  Work. 
Worcester,  November,  1899. 

Record  of  work  in  bird  study  in  schools  of  Worcester,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

1899.  JUDD,  SYLVESTER  D.  Birds  as  Weed  Destroyers.  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Yearbook,  1898,  pages 
221-232. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  kinds  of  seeds  eaten  by  birds  and 
the  species  that  eat  them. 

1899.  LANGE,  D.  Our  Native  Birds;  How  to  Protect  them 
and  Attract  them  to  Our  Homes.  New  York :  The  Mac- 
millan  Co. 

A  small  volume  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  pages  with  ten 
illustrations. 


364  •       APPENDIX  IV. 

1899.  MILLER,  OLIVE  THORNE.  The  First  Book  of  Birds.  Bos- 
ton: Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  Pages  i.-x.,  1-150. 

In  this  excellent  book  for  children  there  is  considerable  dis- 
cussion of  economic  relations,  one  division  of  the  book  being 
devoted  to  the  relations  of  birds  to  man. 

1899.  PALMER,  T.  S.  The  Danger  of  Introducing  Noxious  Ani- 
mals and  Birds.  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, Yearbook,  pages  87-110. 

Introduction,  means  of  dispersal,  domesticated  species  may 
become  noxious,  sources  of  danger  from  noxious  species,  rats 
and  mice,  rabbits,  the  mongoose,  ferrets,  stoats,  weasels,  flying 
foxes  or  fruit  bats,  the  English  sparrow,  the  starling,  the  mina. 
the  kohlmeise  or  great  titmouse,  the  skylark,  the  green  linnet, 
and  the  black  thrush ;  need  of  legislation ;  summary. 

1899.  OSGOOD,  FLETCHER.  The  So-called  Sparrow  War  in  Bos- 
ton. Bird  Lore,  vol.  i.,  pages  137,  138. 

Account  of  the  campaign  against  English  sparrows  in  Boston 
in  the  spring  of  1898. 

1899.  0.  J.  L.  Martins  Kill  the  Caterpillars.  The  Wilson  Bul- 
letin, vol.  xi.,  0.  S.  No.  27,  July  30,  1899,  pages  60-61. 

Built  a  martin  house  in  orchard;  this  was  soon  filled;  kept 
caterpillars  and  moths  from  orchard. 

1899.  SOULE,  CAROLINE  G.  Birds  and  Caterpillars.  Bird  Lore, 
vol.  i.,  page  166. 

Notes  on  birds  attacking  forest  tent-caterpillars  (Clisiocampa 
disstria)  in  Vermont. 

1899.  WEED,  CLARENCE  MOORES.     Our  Winter  Birds  in  their 
Food  Relations.    Granite  Monthly,  vol.  xxvi.,  pages  77-82. 

Food  of  pine  grosbeak,  purple  finch,  junco,  chickadee,  nut- 
hatches, brown  creeper,  hairy  and  downy  woodpeckers,  and 
ruffed  grouse. 

1900.  BAILEY,  VERNON.     Where  the  Grebe  Skins  Come  From. 
Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  34. 

Destruction  of  grebes  in  California  and  Oregon  to  supply 
demands  of  fashion. 


APPENDIX   IV.  365 

1900.  BEAL,  F.  E.  L.  Food  of  the  Bobolink,  Blackbirds,  and 
Grackles.  United  States  Division  of  Biological  Survey, 
Bulletin  No.  13. 

An  elaborate  report  containing  a  full  account  of  the  food  re- 
lations of  the  birds  indicated. 


1900.  BURNS,  FRANK  L.  A  Monograph  of  the  Flicker.  The 
Wilson  Bulletin,  vol.  xii.,  0.  S.  No.  31,  April,  1900,  pages 
3-82. 

An  eighty-two  page  monograph  bringing  together  what  is 
known  of  the  flicker.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  birds  with  fewer 
harmful  qualities  than  downy  and  hairy  woodpeckers  and  nicker. 
They  eat  ants,  coleoptera,  and  other  insects. 

1900.  CHAPMAN,  FRANK  M.  Bird  Studies  with  a  Camera. 
New  York :  D.  Appleton  &  Co. 

This  well-known  book  contains  much  information  regarding 
economic  relations  of  birds. 

1900.  CHAPMAN,  FRANK  M.  Bird  Slaughter  in  Delaware.  Bird 
Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  60. 

Note  on  order  for  twenty  thousand  bird-skins  placed  in  Mil- 
ford,  Delaware. 

1900.  CHAPMAN,  FRANK  M.  A  Note  on  the  Economic  Value 
of  Gulls.  Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  pages  10-11. 

Value  of  gulls  in  feeding  on  garbage  in  New  York  harbor. 

1900.  CHERRIE,  GEORGE  K.  The  Egret  Hunters  of  Venezuela. 
Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  pages  50-51. 

Account  of  collection  of  plumes  by  natives  of  Venezuela. 

1900.  DIBBLE,  EDWARD  B.  Two  Notes  by  a  Young  Observer. 
Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  117. 

Observations  on  robbing  of  birds'  nests  by  blue  jays,  and  on 
feeding  of  young  by  horned  larks. 


366  APPENDIX   IV. 

1900.    DUTCHER,  WILLIAM.     The  Bird  Protection  Fund.     Bird 
Lore,  vol.  ii.,  pages  60,  90. 

Fund  of  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  dollars  raised  for  pro- 
tection of  gulls  and  terns.  Arrangements  being  made  for  war- 
dens to  enforce  laws. 


1900.  (EDITOR.)  Sparrows  Eat  Grapes.  Gardening,  vol.  ix., 
page  29. 

Injury  to  grapes  by  English  sparrows. 

1900.  FISHER,  A.  K.  A  Word  for  the  Hawks  and  Owls. 
American  Field,  vol.  liv.,  page  331. 

Value  as  destroyers  of  vermin. 

1900.  HUTCHINS,  JOHN.  The  House  Wren  as  a  Depredator. 
Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  pages  89,  90. 

Wrens  pierce  eggs  of  chipping  sparrows  and  throw  them  out 
of  nest,  also  persecute  other  birds. 

1900.  LEMMONS,  ISABEL  McC.  Notes  on  the  Food  of  the  Chick- 
adee and  the  Screech  Owl.  Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  59. 

Chickadees  observed  taking  "  tiny  black  insects"  ( probably 
aphid  eggs)  from  willow.  Screech  owl's  stomachs  full  of  har- 
vest flies  "  in  the  pupa  form  in  which  they  leave  the  earth." 

1900.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Protest  against  the  Collection  of  Plume 
Birds  through  Postmasters.  Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  66. 

Account  of  action  of  postmaster-general  in  warning  post- 
masters against  illegal  killing  of  birds. 

1900.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Legislation  for  the  Protection  of  Birds 
other  than  Game-Birds.  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  Division  of  Biological  Survey,  Bulletin  No. 
12,  pages  1-94. 

A  general  introduction,  followed  by  a  summary  of  the  State 
laws. 


APPENDIX   IV.  367 

1900.  PALMER,  T.  S.  A  Review  of  Economic  Ornithology. 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Yearbook, 
1899,  pages  259-292. 

A  very  important  article.     See  Chapter  II.  of  this  book. 

1900.  PALMER,  T.  S.,  and  OLDS,  H.  W.  Laws  Regulating  'the 
Transportation  and  Sale  of  Game.  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Biological  Survey, 
Bulletin  No.  14,  pages  1-89. 

A  general  summary  of  existing  laws. 

1900.    PALMER,  T.  S.,  and  OLDS,  H.  W.     Information  concern- 
ing Game :   Seasons,  Shipment,  and  Sale.    United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Biological  Sur- 
vey, Circular  No.  31. 
A  brief  summary. 

1900.  PRAEGER,  WILLIAM  F.  Birds  in  Horticulture.  Trans- 
actions Illinois  State  Horticultural  Society,  1899.  Re- 
view in  Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  61. 

A  paper  discussing  the  economic  values  of  birds. 

1900.  ROOSEVELT,  THEODORE.    A  Letter  from  Governor  Roose- 
velt.   Bird  Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  98. 

Endorsement  of  work  of  Audubon  Society. 

1901.  BABCOCK,  CHARLES  A.    Bird  Day:    How  to  Prepare  for 
it.    Boston :   Silver,  Burdett  &  Co.    95  pages. 

Ten  chapters  by  the  originator  of  Bird  Day  in  the  Schools, 
designed  to  "  assist  school  children  in  the  accurate  study  of  a 
few  birds." 

1901.  CRAM,  W.  E.  Food  of  the  Downy  Woodpecker.  Bird 
Lore,  vol.  ii.,  page  142. 

Feeding  on  larvae  in  mullein  seed-cases. 

1901.  DEARBORN,  NED,  and  WEED,  CLARENCE  M.  The  Vege- 
table Food  of  Birds.  Granite  Monthly,  vol.  xxx.,  pages 

277-286. 


368  APPENDIX   IV. 

1901.  DEARBORN,  NED,  and  WEED,  CLARENCE  M.  Birds  in  their 
Economic  Relations.  Granite  Monthly,  vol.  xxxi.,  pages 
158-167,  276-285. 

Discussion  of  various  phases  of  the  subject. 

1901.  ECKSTORM,  FANNIE  HARDY.  The  Bird  Book.  Boston: 
D.  C.  Heath  &  Co. 

In  this  unique  book  there  is  much  information  as  to  eco- 
nomic values. 

1901.  ECKSTORM,  FANNIE  HARDY.  The  Woodpeckers.  Bos- 
ton: Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  pages  1-131. 

An  admirable  guide  to  the  study,  of  this  interesting  family. 
Many  illustrations,  some  of  them  in  color. 

1901.  ECKSTORM,  FANNIE  HARDY.  Visible  Results.  Bird  Lore, 
vol.  iii.,  page  184. 

Reappearance  of  terns  along  the  Maine  coast. 

1901.  (EDITOR.)  The  Sparrow  Again.  American  Gardening, 
vol.  xxii.,  pages  759,  760. 

Usefulness  of  English  sparrows  in  cities. 

1901.  GRINNELL,  GEORGE  BIRD.  American  Duck  Shooting. 
New  York:  Forest  and  Stream  Publishing  Company, 
pages  1-623. 

An  extended  treatment  of  each  species  of  duck,  and  a  special 
discussion  of  the  art  of  duck  shooting  and  of  the  decrease  of 
wild  fowl. 

1901.  HERRICK,  FRANCIS  HOBART.  The  Home  Life  of  Wild 
Birds :  A  New  Method  of  the  Study  and  Photography  of 
Birds.  New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons,  1901. 

A  beautiful  book  of  one  hundred  and  forty-eight  large  pages 
giving  methods  of  photographing  birds  at  close  range,  and  re- 
sults of  study  of  nesting  habits.  Notes  on  food  of  nestlings  of 
several  species. 


APPENDIX   IV.  369 

1901.  HOPKINS,  A.  D.  Insect  Enemies  of  the  Spruce  in  the 
Northeast.  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Division  of  Entomology,  Bulletin  No.  28,  new  series, 
pages  25-26. 

Discussion  of  bird  enemies  of  spruce-destroying  beetle. 

1901.  JUDD,  SYLVESTER  D.  The  Relation  of  Sparrows  to  Agri- 
culture. United  States  Division  of  Biological  Survey. 
Bulletin  No.  15,  pages  1-98. 

An  elaborate  report  on  the  economic  relations  of  the  North 
American  sparrows.     Many  illustrations. 

1901.  MILLER,  OLIVE  THORNE.  The  Second  Book  of  Birds: 
Bird  Families.  Boston :  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.  Pages 
i.-x.,  1-210. 

An    illustrated   account   of   the   families   of   North   American 
birds,  with  numerous  references  to  feeding  habits. 

1901.  NEWKIRK,  GARRETT.  For  Our  Encouragement.  Bird 
Lore,  vol.  iii.,  pages  183,  184. 

Increase  of  birds  in  Missouri  because  of  bird  protection. 

1901.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Some  Fundamental  Principles  of  Bird 
Protection.  Bird  Lore,  vol.  iii.,  pages  79-81. 

An    admirable    discussion    of    principles    on    which    laws    are 
based. 

1901.  PALMER,  T.  S.  The  Protection  of  Game  a  National 
Question.  Leslie's  Weekly,  vol.  xciii.,  pages  254-258, 
September  21,  1901. 

A  general  discussion. 

1901.  PALMER,  T.  S.,  and  OLDS,  H.  W.  Digest  of  Game  Laws 
for  1901.  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
Division  Biological  Survey,  Bulletin  No.  16,  pages  1-152. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  subject. 
24 


370  APPENDIX    IV. 

1901.  PEABODY,  P.  B.  Saw- Whet  Homes.  Bird  Lore,  vol.  iii., 
pages  55-58. 

Account  of  nests  of  saw-whet  owls  in  flicker  holes.  Evidences 
of  mice  and  small  birds  as  food. 

1901.  SMITH,  ROBERT  WINDSOR.     Food  and  Gravel.    The  Wil- 
son Bulletin  No.  34,  vol.  xiii.,  0.  S.  March  30,  1901,  pages 
16,  17. 

Song  sparrow  has  much  gravel  in  stomach ;  robin  more  dirt 
than  gravel ;  seed-eating  birds  require  gravel  for  grinding. 

1902.  ANNIN,  J.,  JR.     Winged  Enemies  of  the  Brook  Trout. 
In  The  Speckled  Brook  Trout,  edited  and  illustrated  by 
Louis  Rhead.     New  York :    R.  H.  Russell,  pages  127- 
140. 

The  following  birds  are  discussed:  Night  heron,  green  heron, 
bittern,  kingfisher,  ducks,  loons,  grebes,  fish-hawk,  bald  eagle, 
bared  owl,  screech  owl. 

1902.  BLANCHAN,  NELTJE.  How  to  Attract  the  Birds,  and 
Other  Talks  about  Bird  Neighbors.  New  York :  Double- 
day,  Page  &  Co.  Pages  1-224. 

Nine  chapters  on  popular  ornithology,  the  first  bearing  the 
title :  "  How  to  Invite  Bird  Neighbors."  Many  illustrations 
from  photographs. 

/ 

1902.  FISHER,  A.  K.  Two  Vanishing  Birds :  The  Woodcock  and 
the  Wood  Duck.  Yearbook,  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture,  1901,  pages  447-458. 

An  excellent  illustrated  discussion  showing  the  necessity  for 
more  adequate  protection  of  these  species. 

1902.  JUDD,  SYLVESTER  D.  Birds  of  a  Maryland  Farm:  A 
Local  Study  of  Economic  Ornithology.  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Division  of  Biological  Sur- 
vey, Bulletin  No.  17,  pages  1-116. 

An  admirable  study  of  the  economic  relations  of  birds  on  a 
small  area,  fully  illustrated. 


APPENDIX   IV.  371 

1902.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Bird  Protection.  In  Mrs.  F.  M.  Bailey's 
Handbook  of  the  Birds  of  the  Western  United  States, 
pages  xxxix.-xliii. 

A  general  discussion  of  the  subject. 

1902.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Directory  of  State  Officials  and  Organiza- 
tions concerned  with  the  Protection  of  Birds  and  Game. 
1902.  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  Divi- 
sion of  Biological  Survey,  Circular  No.  35. 

Lists  of  State  Officials,  National  Organizations,  State  Organi- 
zations, and  Audubon  Societies. 

1902.  PALMER,  T.  S.  Protection  of  Game.  New  York  State 
Library  Bulletin,  No.  72,  March,  1902,  pages  198-204. 

A  review  of  legislation  of  1901  for  the  protection  of  game. 


1902.  PALMER,  T.  S.,  and  OLDS,  H.  W.  Game  Laws  for  1902. 
A  Summary  of  the  Provisions  relating  to  the  Seasons, 
Shipment,  Sale,  and  Licenses.  United  States  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture,  Farmers'  Bulletin  No.  160,  pages 
1-56. 

"  Intended  as  a  guide  to  existing  regulations,  State  and  Fed- 
eral, which  govern  the  trade  in  game." 

1902.  SANDYS,  EDWYN,  and  VANDYKE,  G.  S.  Upland  Game 
Birds.  New  York:  The  Macmillan  Company,  pages 
i.-xii.,  1-429. 

One  of  the  best  of  recent  books  treating  of  game  birds. 

1902.  TOUT,  WILSON.  Ornithology  in  the  Schools.  National 
Committee  of  the  Audubon  Societies.  Leaflet  No.  2, 
June,  1902.  4  pages. 

An  excellent  discussion  of  "  the  how  and  when  of  bird  study" 
in  the  schools. 


372  APPENDIX    IV. 

1902.    WHEELOCK,  IRENE  GROSVENOR.    Nestlings  of  Forest  and 
Marsh.    Chicago:  A.  C.  McClurg  &  Co.,  pages  1-257. 


,/foi 


An  admirable  book  containing  many  original  observations  as 
to  feeding  habits.  Excellent  illustrations  from  photographs  from 
life. 


903.  PALMER,  T.  S.  The  Cold  Storage  of  Game.  Proceedings 
of  the  Twelfth  Annual  Meeting  American  Warehouse- 
men's Association,  pages  176-185.  Reprinted  in  Forest 
and  Stream,  vol.  lx.,  pages  210-211. 

An  important  discussion,  with  these  sub-titles:  Refrigeration 
and  Game  Protection;  Legal  Status  of  Game;  Important  Stor- 
age Cases;  Bonding  Game. 


FOREIGN    BOOKS. 

OUSTALET,  EMILE.     La  Protection  des  Oiseaux.     Paris: 
Jouvet  et  Cie.     (No  date.)     Pages  1-117. 

An   illustrated   discussion   of    the    economic    relations   of    the 
birds  of  France. 

1887.  WOOD,  THEODORE.     Our  Bird  Allies.     London.     Society 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge.     Pages  i.-x.,  1-214. 

A   general    discussion   of    the   economic    relations   of    British 
birds. 

1888.  BARGGREVE,  BERNARD.     Die  Vogelschutzfrage.     Leipzig: 
Hugo    Voigt.      Second    edition    (First,    1878).      Pages 
1-173. 

A  discussion  of  European  conditions. 

1893.  WATSON,  JOHN  (editor).  Ornithology  in  Eelation  to 
Agriculture  and  Horticulture.  London:  W.  H.  Allen  & 
Co.  Pages  i.-vii.,  1-220. 

Essays  by  various  English  authorities  upon  the  economic  rela- 
tions of  British  birds. 


APPENDIX   IV.  373 

1897.  MASEFIELD,  JOHN  R.  B.  Wild  Bird  Protection  and  Nest- 
ing Boxes.  Leeds,  England:  Taylor  Brothers.  Pages 
1-129. 

A  discussion  in  four  parts  with  these  titles:  Wild  Bird  Pro- 
tection ;  Mediaeval  Bird  Laws ;  Bird  Nesting  Boxes ;  Wild  Birds 
Protection  Acts.  Many  good  illustrations. 

1901.  HUDSON,  W.  H.  Birds  and  Man.  London  and  New 
York:  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  pages  1-317. 

Delightful  essays,  though  not  dealing  especially  with  eco- 
nomic relations. 


INDEX 


A. 

Acadian  owl,  201 
Acridiidae,  43 
Alice's  thrush,  104 
American  eider,  242 
American  goldfinch,  133 
American  redstart,  117 
American  snipe,  231 
American  warblers,  113 
American  white-fronted  goose,  244 
American  woodcock,  229 
Ampelidae,  125 
Animal  food  of  birds,  42 
Aphididae,  45 
Army-worm,  49 
Auks,  250 

B. 

Baltimore  oriole,  156 

Bandtailed  pigeon,  222 

Bank-swallow,  129 

Barn-owl,  196 

Barn-swallow,  128 

Barred  owl,  197 

Bay-winged  bunting,  134 

Bibliography,  326 

Bird-baths,  309 

Bird-day,  270 

Bird-houses,  310 

Bird-protection,  discussion  of,  268 

Birds  as  regulators  of  outbreaks  of 

injurious  animals,  69 
Bittern,  237 
Black  and  white  creeping  warbler, 

114 

Black-billed  cuckoo,  193 
Blackbirds,  157 
Black-capped  titmouse,  107 


Black  duck,  239 

Black  rail,  234 

Black  skimmer,  249 

Black  snow-bird,  138 

Black-throated  green  warbler,  117 

Black  vulture,  215 

Bluebird,  86 

Blue- jay,  171 

Blue  yellow-backed  warbler,  114 

Bobolink,  163 

Bob-white,  222 

Bohemian  waxwing,  125 

Bombycidae,  50 

Bonaparte's  rosy  gull,  248 

Braconidae,  56 

Brant  goose,  244 

Broad-winged  hawk,  206 

Bronzed  graokle,  158 

Brown  creeper,  109 

Brown  gannet,  245 

Brown  pelican-,  246 

Brown  thrush,  101 

Buds  and  blossoms,  40 

Bull-bat,  179 

Burrowing  owl,  203 

Butcher-birds,  122 

Butter-ball,  242 

Butterflies,  51 

Buzzards,  215 

C. 

California  partridge,  227 
Canada  goose,  244 
Canada  nuthatch,  107 
Canvas-back  duck,  241 
Caprimulgidae,  178 
Carabidae,  52 
Carolina  dove,  222 

375 


376 


INDEX. 


Carolina  rail,  234 

Carolina  titmouse,  110 

Carrion  crow,  215 

Cat-bird,  99 

Cathartidae,  218 

Cecropia  moth,  184 

Cedar-bird,  125 

Cedar  waxwing,  125 

Certhiidse,  109 

Chaparral  cock,  194 

Cherry-bird,  124 

Chewink,  141 

Chickadee,  107 

Chimney-swallow,  177 

Chimney-swift,  177 

Chinch-bug,  44 

Chipping-sparrow,  137 

Chrysomelidae,  53 

Cicindelidse,  52 

Clapper  rail,  234 

Coccinellidae,  53 

Coleoptera,  51 

Columbia  fasciata,  22-2 

Columbian  sharp-tailed  grouse,  227 

Common  crow,  167 

Common  puffin,  250 

Conservation  of  birds,  255 

Cooper's  hawk,  211 

Coot,  235 

Cormorants,  246 

Cow-bird,  162 

Cranes,  235 

Creepers,  109 

Crow  blackbird,  158 

Crows,  167,  215 

Cuckoos,  192 

Curculionidse,  54 

Curlews,  232 

Cypselidae,  177 

D. 

Dabchick,  254 
Darter,  245 

Development  of   economic   ornithol- 
ogy, 17 
Dickcissel,  140 


Dipper,  242 

Diptera,  51 

Double-crested  cormorant,  246 

Dowitcher,  231 

Downy  woodpecker,  184 

Duck-hawk,  212 

Ducks,  239 

Dusky  duck,  239 

Dusky  grouse,  227 

E. 

Eagles,  213 

Eared  grebe,  254 

Economic  ornithology,  17 

Egg-collecting,  257 

Egret,  great  white,  237 

Elateridae,  53 

Elf-owl,  201 

Encouraging  the  presence  of  birds, 

304 

English  sparrow,  144 
Eskimo  curlew,  233 
Evening  grosbeak,  132 

F. 

Field-sparrow,  136 

Finches,  132 

Fish-ducks,  243 

Fish-hawk,  212 

Florida  gallinule,  235 

Flycatchers,  174 

Food,  amount  of,  consumed  by  birds, 

60 
Food  of  birds,  methods  of  studying, 

9 

Food,  smaller  birds  for,  262 
Formicidae,  55 
Forster's  tern,  248 
Frigate  bird,  247 
FringillidjB,  132 


G. 


Gallinules,  235 
Game-birds.  272 


INDEX. 


377 


Gannets,  244 

Geese,  239 

Geometridse,  49 

Goatsuckers,  178 

Golden-crowned  kinglet,  104 

Golden  eagle,  214 

Golden-eye,  242 

G  olden  plover,  229 

Golden  robin,  156 

Goosander,  243 

Goshawk,  212 

Grass-finch,  134 

Gray  snipe,  231 

Great  black-backed  gull,  247 

Great  blue  heron;  237 

Great  crested  flycatcher,  176 

Greater  scaup,  242 

Greater  yellow-legs,  232 

Great  heron,  237 

Great  horned  owl,  201 

Great  northern  shrike,  123 

Grebes,  253,  254 

Greenlets,  120 

Grouse,  222,  224 

Gryllida,  43 

Guillemots,  251 

Gulls,  247 

H. 

Hair-bird,  137 
Hairy  woodpecker,  182 
Hawks,  205 
Hemiptera,  44 
Hermit  thrush,  104 
Herons,  236 
Hirundinidse,  127 
Homoptera,  44 
House-wren,  110 
Hudsonian  curlew,  233 
Hudsonian  godwit,  231 
Humming-birds,  177 
Hymenoptera,  55 

I. 

Ibises,  236 
Ichneumonidae,  56 


nsects  eaten  by  birds,  42 
vory-billed  woodpecker,  181 


Taegers,  249 
Fassidae,  44 
Tays,  157 
Junco,  138 


K. 


Killdeer  plover,  229 
Kingbird,  175 
King  eider,  242 
Kingfisher,  191 
Kinglets,  104 
King  rail,  234 
Kites,  214 
Kittiwake  gull,  248 


Lacey  bird  law,  320 

Laniidse,  122 

Law,  bird,  of  the  American  Orni- 
thologists' Union,  317 

Laws,  bird,  some  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of,  323 

Laws,  federal,  323,  324 

Laws  not  uniform,  282 

Laws,  State,  323,  324 

Laws,  uniform,  285 

Leaf-miners,  49 

Least  flycatcher,  176 

Lepidoptera,  46 

Lesser  scaup,  242 

Light-houses,  destruction  of  birds 
by,  257 

Locustidse,  43 

Loggerhead  shrike,  123 

Long-billed  curlew,  232 

Long-eared  owl,  200 

Long-tailed  chickadee,  110 

Loons,  253,  254 

Luna  moth,  180 


378 


INDEX. 


Magpie,  171 

Mallard  duck,  239 

Man-of-war  bird,  247 

Marbled  god  wit,  231 

Marsh-harrier,  212 

Marsh-hawk,  212 

Marsh-wren,  112 

Maryland  yellow-throat,  118 

Meadow-lark,  165 

Mergansers,  243 

Methods  of  studying  food  of  birds,  9 

Mexican  cormorant,  246 

Millinery  purposes,  birds  sacrificed 

for,  259 

Mniotiltidse,  112 
Mocking-bird,  103 
Mountain  partridge,  227 
Mourning-dove,  222 
Myriapoda,  58 
Myrtle-bird,  115 

N. 

Nashville  warbler,  114 
Nest-destroying,  257 
New  England  jackdaw,  160 
Night-hawk,  178 
Night- jars,  178 
Noctuidse,  49 
Non-game  birds,  255 
Northern  phalarope,  233 
Nuthatches,  105 


Old  squaw,  242 
Orioles,  156 
Orthoptera,  42 
Osprey,  212 
Owls,  195 

Partridge,  222 
Pelicans,  246 
Petrels,  250 
Pewee,  174 
Phalangiidse,  58 


Phalaropes,  233 
Phoebe,  174 
Picidae,  181 
Pied-billed  grebe,  254 
Pigeons,  219 

Pileated  woodpecker,  181 
Pine  grosbeak,  132 
Plovers,  228 
Porzana,  234 
Prairie-hen,  226 
Predaceous  animals,  257 
Puffin,  250 
Purple  finch,  133 
Purple  gallinule,  235 
Purple  giackle,  158 
Purple  martin,  129 


Quail,  222 


Rails,  233 
Rallus,  234 

Red-breasted  merganser,  243 
Red-breasted  nuthatch,  107 
Red-eyed  vireo,  119 
Red-head  duck,  241 
Red-necked  grebe,  254 
Red  phalarope,  233 
Red-shouldered  hawk,  207 
Redstart,  117 
Red-tailed  hawk,  208 
Red-winged  blackbird,  161 
Relations  of  birds  to  man,  1 
Rhyncophora,  54 
Richardson's  grouse,  227 
Ring-neck  duck,  241 
Ring-neck  plover,  228 
Roadrunner,  194 
Robin,  90 

Rose-breasted  grosbeak,  141 
Rose  tanager,  131 
Rough-legged  hawk,  207 
Ruby-crowned  kinglet,  105 
Ruby- throat,  177 


INDEX. 


379 


Buddy  duck,  242 
Ruffed  grouse,  224 


Sand-hill  crane,  236 
Sap  relished  by  birds,  41 
Sapsucker,  189 
Savanna-sparrow,  137 
Saw-whet  owl,  201 
Scarabeidae,  54 
Scarlet  tanager,  131 
Scoters,  242 
Screech-owl,  199 
Sea  parrot,  250 
Sharp-shinned  hawk,  210 
Sheldrake,  243 
Shining  fly-snapper,  124 
Shore-birds,  219 
Short-eared  owl,  197 
Shrikes,  122 
Sickle-bill,  232 
Sittinae,  105 
Snake-bird,  245 
Snipes,  229 
Snow-bird,  134 
Snow-bunting,  134 
Snow-goose,  244 
Snowy  owl,  203 
Song-spari-ow,  138 
Sooty  grouse,  227 
Sparrow-hawk,  205 
Sparrows,  132 
Spiders,  57 
Stake-drivers,  237 
Storks,  236 
Strigidse,  196 
Summer  duck,  240 
Summer  red-bird,  131 
Summer  yellow-bird,  116 
Surf-duck,  242 
Swainson's  hawk,  206 
Swainson's  thrush,  103 
Swallows,  126 
Swallow-tailed  kite,  214 


Swans,  239 
Swifts,  174 
Sylviida;,  104 


Tanarcse, 

Tarnished   plant-bug,  44 

Teals,  239 

Tennessee  warbler,  115 

Terns,  248 

Thistle-bird,  133 

Thrasher,  101 

Tipulida>,  51 

Titmice,  107 

Tortricida?,  48 

Towhee  bunting,  141 

Townsend's  fly-catching  thrush,  125 

Trapping,  267 

Tree-sparrow,  135 

Trochilidae,  177 

Troglodytidae,   11 

Trumpeter  swan,  244 

Turkey-buzzard,  215 

IT. 

Upland  plover,  232 
Upland  sandpiper,  232 

V. 

Vegetable  food  of  birds,  27 
Vesper  sparrow,  134 
Vireos,  119 
Virginia  rails,  234 
Vultures,  215 

W. 

Warblers,  112 
Warbling  vireo,  121 
Waxwings,  124 
Whippoorwill,  178 
Whistler,  242 
Whistling  swan,  244 
White-bellied  swallow,  129 


380 


INDEX. 


White-breasted  nuthatch,  106 
White-crowned  sparrow,  136 
White  egret,  237 
White-eyed  vireo,  121 
White  gannet,  245 
White  ibis,  236 
White  pelican,  246 
White-throated  sparrow,  136 
Whooping  crane,  235 
Wild  goose,  244 
Willet,  231 

Wilson's  phalarope,  233 
Wilson's  snipe,  231 
Wood-duck,  240 


Wood  ibis,  236 
Woodpeckers,  181 
Wood  pewee,  176 
Wood  stork,  236 
Wood  thrush,  103 
Wood  warblers,  112 
Wrens,  110 

Y. 

Yellow-billed  cuckoo,  193 
Yellow  crake,  234 
Yellow-rumped  warbler,  115 
Yellow-throated  vireo,  121 
Yellow  warbler,  116 


THE    END. 


STAMPEIJ  -»j 

DAY    AND    TO    «  ^^^=========L 

OVERDUE. 

-—: 


LD  21-50m-8,-. 


YC  63816 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


